William Copley (artist)


William N. Copley also known as CPLY, was an American painter, writer, gallerist, collector, patron, publisher and art entrepreneur. His works as an artist have been classified as late Surrealist and precursory to Pop art.

Early life and introduction to art

Copley was born in New York City in 1919 to parents John and Flora Lodwell; they died shortly after in the 1919 Spanish Flu epidemic. Copley was adopted in 1921 by Ira C. Copley, the owner of sixteen newspaper companies in Chicago and San Diego. Ira C. Copley remarried after the death of his wife, Edith, several years after the adoption took place. The three lived in Aurora, Illinois, until Copley was ten years old whereby the family moved to Coronado Island, California.
Copley was sent to Phillips Andover and then Yale University by his adopted parents. He was drafted in the Second World War in the middle of his education at Yale, a decision negotiated by the school and the army. Copley experimented with politics upon returning home from the war, working as a reporter for his father's newspaper.
By 1946, Copley met and married Marjorie Doris Wead, the daughter of a test pilot for the Navy. Doris's sister was married to John Ployardt, a Canadian-born animator and narrator at Walt Disney Studios. Copley and Ployardt soon became friends and Ployardt began introducing Copley to painting and Surrealism. The two traveled to Mexico and New York, discovering art, meeting the artists behind the works, and grasping Surrealist ideas. It was during this time that Copley and Ployardt decided to open a gallery in Los Angeles to exhibit Surrealist works.

Galleries and foundation

Copley and Ployardt tracked down Man Ray while living in Los Angeles. Ray then introduced them to Marcel Duchamp in New York City. There, Duchamp opened many doors for them, introducing the two to New York dealers in Surrealism. In 1948, Copley and Ployardt opened The Copley Galleries in Beverly Hills, displaying works by artists including René Magritte, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Roberto Matta, Joseph Cornell, and Man Ray. However, Los Angeles had not yet caught on to the Surrealist scene as other locations such as New York City had done, and the Copley Galleries faced hardships in gaining popularity and sales. Copley painted part-time during the gallery's running from the encouragement of friends Duchamp and Ernst and worked on painting full-time when the gallery closed after its first year.
Copley moved to Paris in 1949–50, leaving behind his wife and two children to continue to paint. During his time in Paris, he remained in Surrealist circles and continued to paint with a uniquely American style. Man Ray introduced him to Noma Rathner, whom he married in 1954. Man Ray took numerous portraits of the Copleys and served as best man at their wedding in Paris. Their home in Longpont-sur-Orge in the outskirts of Paris became a central gathering place in the postwar era for a community of Surrealists to reunite after their dispersal during the war.
The Copleys developed the William and Noma Copley Foundation, later known as the Cassandra Collection, in 1953 with the funds from his father's inheritance. The board, in which Marcel Duchamp was also an adviser, gave small grants to artists and musicians. Upon Duchamp's death in 1968, the William and Noma Copley Foundation gave Marcel Duchamp's last work, "Etant Donnés" to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it is still on view.

Collecting

From the time of the Copley Galleries until his death, Copley amassed a large collection of artworks with an emphasis on Surrealist works. The basis of his collection started when he began purchasing works that did not sell at the Copley Galleries. From there, he amassed monumental works including Man Ray's "A l'Heure de l'Observatoire – Les Amoureux." Copley's collection was sold at auction in 1979 for $6.7 million, at the time the highest total for the auction of a single owner's collection in the United States.

Artwork and exhibitions

Copley's first exhibition took place in Los Angeles in 1951 at Royer's Book Shop. From there Copley participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. In 1961, Copley was given an exhibition in Amsterdam by the Stedelijk Museum. The museum became the first public institution to add a Copley to their collection.
Copley's paintings throughout the 1950s and 60s dealt with ironic and humorous images of stereotypical American symbols like the Western saloon, cowboys, and pin-up girls combined with flags. His works during this period were often considered a combination of American and Mexican folk art and melded in well with the new young POP movement occurring in America when he returned to New York in the 1960s. Artists like Andy Warhol, Christo, Roy Lichtenstein and many others were frequent visitors at Copley's studio on Lower Broadway. Copley believed that pop art had always interested him, claiming American pop art had much to do with "self-disgust" and "satire."

The Letter Edged in Black Press (SMS)

In 1967, after a divorce with his second wife, Noma, Copley and new friend Dmitri Petrov decided to publish portfolios of 20th-century artist collaborations with the abbreviation SMS (for "Shit Must Stop"). Copley's Upper West Side loft became a meeting place for performers, artists, curators, and composers to work together on the open-ended collective. The SMS portfolio contained six volumes, each of which were shipped out from the artists to subscribers. The works included came from artists both well-renowned and obscure, including Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Christo, Richard Hamilton, Claes Oldenburg, John Cage, Terry Riley, La Monte Young, Dick Higgins, Ronnie Landfield, Bruce Nauman, Meret Oppenheim, Neil Jenney, Yoko Ono and others.

CPLY X-Rated

Copley's works in the 1970s focused on his own understating of differences and challenges between men and women in romantic and sexual relationships. His works were now erotic, even pornographic. In 1974 he exhibited these new works at what was then the New York Cultural Center in Columbus Circle, New York in a show titled "CPLY X-Rated." These pieces were a sudden change from his previous romantic whimsical periods. The American public had difficulty with the material, for which Copley expressed, "Americans... don't know the difference between eroticism and pornography. Because eroticism has always existed in art. And pornography has never necessarily been in art." Copley's experienced greater feedback in Europe, where the work was then well received. In conjunction with the New York Cultural Center Show, there was a special "CPLY X-Rated Poster and Catalog.

Later years

Copley moved to Roxbury, Connecticut in 1980, where he built a studio and spent time among friends. In 1992 he moved full-time to Key West, Florida, due to health issues and lived with his sixth and final wife, Cynthia Gooch. He died on May 7, 1996, at age 77 from complications from a stroke he had suffered three weeks earlier.
Mr. Copley's first five marriages ended in divorce. He had a son and two daughters. His daughter, Claire S. Copley, founded the short-lived, but influential Claire Copley Gallery, which exhibited important works by Michael Asher and Bas Jan Ader. His son was also an artist who went by the name Billy Bryant to distinguish himself from his father. Billy designed the cover art for Terry Riley's 1968 album In C.

Selected solo exhibitions

  • 2022 "Works on Paper", Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
  • 2022 Sadie Coles HQ, London
  • 2020 "The Ballad of William N. Copley", Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
  • 2020 "The New York Years", Kasmin, New York
  • 2020 "William N. Copley: The Temptation of St. Anthony ", Nino Mier, Los Angeles
  • 2020 "William N. Copley: Drawings and Paintings 1966–1991", Nino Mier, Los Angeles
  • 2018 "William N. Copley: The Coffin They Carry You Off In", Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
  • 2018 "Publishing the Portable Museum: William N. Copley’s The Letter Edged in Black Press", Alden Projects, New York
  • 2017 "William N. Copley: Women", Kasmin Gallery, New York
  • 2016 "William N. Copley: The World According to CPLY", The Menil Collection, Houston
  • 2016 "The World According to CPLY", The Menil Collection, Houston
  • 2015 Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
  • 2015 "William N. Copley: Drawings ", Kasmin Gallery, New York
  • 2015 "William N. Copley: Paintings from 1960 – 1994", Showroom by Paul van Esch & Partners Art Advisory, Amsterdam
  • 2014 "William N. Copley: Paintings and Mirrors", Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin
  • 2013 "Finally We Laugh", Galerie Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf
  • 2013 "William Copley & Big Fat Black Cock", Inc. Gang Bust, Venus Over Manhattan, New York
  • 2012 "Patriotism of CPLY and All That", Kasmin Gallery, New York
  • 2012 "William N. Copley: Works 1948 – 1983", Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich
  • 2012 Museum Frieder Burda, Baden Baden
  • 2011 "X-Rated," Sadie Coles HQ, London
  • 2010 "CPLY: X-Rated," Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
  • 2004 Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain
  • 1980–81 Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • *Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • *Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
  • *Kunsthalle Bern
  • 1979 "CPLY: Reflections on a Past Life," Institute of the Arts, Rice University, Houston
  • 1974 "CPLY/X-RATED," New York Cultural Center, New York

Selected group exhibitions

1953

Americans in Paris, Galerie Arthur Craven, Paris, France

1956

XII Salon de Mai, Musee D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FranceExposition Internationale de l’Art Actuel, Nagaoka Museum, Nagoaka, Japan

1957

Verzameling Urvater,, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, Netherlands; The Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England; City of York Gallery, York, England; The Tate Gallery, London, EnglandPicture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England

1959

XV Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FranceExposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie Daniel Cordier, Paris, FranceThe Maremont Collection at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology at Crown Hall, ChicagoPicture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England

1960

International Surrealist Exhibition, D’arcy Galleries, New York

1961

XVII Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FranceBewogen Bewgin, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Holland; Rörelse I Konsten Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Bevagelse i kunsten, Louisiana Museum, Humlbaek, DenmarkContemporary Modern Paintings Drawings Collages Objets-Peinture Sculpture Property of The American Chess Foundation, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New YorkSculpture and Picture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, EnglandSurréalisme Et Précurseurs, Palais Graneville, Besançon, France

1962

Collage out of California, Pasadena Art Museum, PasadenaAntagonismes 2: L’Objet, Musée D’Art Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre – Pavillon de Marsan, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, FranceSurrealismus: Phantastiche Maleri der Gegenwart, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, AustriaXVIII Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
  • Esther-Robles Gallery, Los AngelesPicture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, EnglandPiccola Biennale, Palazzo Papadopoli, Venice, Italy

1963

Pop Art USA, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CaliforniaXIX Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France18 Salon de Réalitiés Nouvelles, Musée Municipal D’Art Moderne, Paris, FranceParis Lettriste, Galerie Schmidt, Paris, FranceAspetti dell’Arte Contemporanea, L’Aquila Castello Cinquecentesco, L’Aquila, ItalySurrealist Exhibition, Galerie Carpenter, Paris, France; New York

1964

Arte Fantastica, Museo de Castillo di San Giusto, Trieste, ItalySelections from the L.M. Asher Collection, University Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueNew Directions in American Painting, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, WalthamNieuwe Realisten, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, NetherlandsLe Surrealisme: Sources, Histoire, Affinities, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, FranceAround Travel, P.V.I. Gallery, New YorkMay Twelfth Twelve Artists, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York100 American Drawings, Byron Gallery, New York

1965

The Maremont Collection, Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, D.C.Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Etc., Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, BelgiumSurrealist Exhibition, Byron Gallery, New YorkVisiting Artists at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Otis Art Institute, Los AngelesArena of Love, Dwan Gallery, Los AngelesWhence Pop, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New YorkThe Box Show, Byron Gallery, New YorkExquisite Torsi, David Stuart Galleries, Los AngelesDrawings, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New YorkRecent Acquisitions of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York

1966

Hommage á Caissa: Exhibition for the Chess Foundation of the Duchamp Fund, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New YorkDada Lever, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SwedenSurrealist Exhibition, University of California, Santa BarbaraPortraits: Peinture, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, France25 Years of Art in San Diego, La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, CaliforniaBirthday Party for George Washington, Henri Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia26th Annual Exhibition by the Society for Contemporary American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, ChicagoLimited Works by Important Artists, The Egg and The Eye, Los AngelesAround the Automobile, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Arlington State College, Arlington; Cedar Rapids Art Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; B. Caroll Reece Memorial Museum, Johnson City, Tennessee; Bates College, Lewiston, Maine; Davison Art Center at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut; Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee; The Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

1967

Mixed Masters, University of St. Thomas, HoustonAngry Arts: Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Vietnam, Associated American Artists, New YorkFifty American Artists of the Twentieth Century, North Shore Community Arts Center, Great Neck, New York27th Annual Exhibition by the Society for Contemporary American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

1968

The Obsessive Image, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, EnglandDada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Art Institute of Chicago, ChicagoLanguage II, Dwan Gallery, New York

1969

Blocked Metaphors, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York

1970

Recent Acquisitions of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New YorkCopley, Brauner and Magritte, Louisiana Gallery, HoustonBox Top Art, Illinois State University, Bloomington

1972

Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany

1973

Erotic Art, The Art Center of the New School for Social Research, New York

1974

Seventy-First American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

1975

Three Generations of the American Nude, New York Cultural Center, New York
  • University of Houston/Fine Art Center, Houston

1976

The William Seitz Memorial Exhibition, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton

1977

Artist’s Renderings of Paintings, Pinoetca di Brera, Milan, Italy; Musée du Louvre, Paris FranceThe Dada / Surrealist Heritage, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

1978

“Bad” Painting, The New Museum, New YorkAmerican Nude, Harold Reed Gallery, New YorkBox Museum, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York

1980

American Painting of the Sixties and Seventies: The Real, The Ideal, and the Fantastic, Whitney Museum of Art, New York; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama; Joslyn Art Museum; Omaha; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs; The Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, RenoThe Figurative Tradition and the Whitney Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of Art, New York

1981

Westkunst, Museen Der Stadt Köln, Cologne, Germany

1982

Documenta 7, Kassel, GermanyThe Erotic Impulse, Roger Litz Gallery, New York

1983

Looking at Women, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IllinoisFestival of the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PennsylvaniaContemporary Paintings from the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North CarolinaThe Last Laugh, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio

1984

Auto and Culture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Detroit Institute of Arts, DetroitParavents, Schloss Lorsfeld, Kerpen, Germany

1985 – 1986

Cinquante Ans de Dessins Americans: 1930-1980, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France; Städtische Galerie im Stadelschen Kunstinstitut; Frankfurt, Germany

1986

Column, Galerie Jule Kewenig, Frechen-Bachem, GermanyEuropa / Amerika: die Geschicte einer kunstlerischen Faszination seit 1940, Museum Ludwig, GermanyLine Drives, Gallery 53/Smithy Artworks, Cooperstown, New York

1987

The Amused Eye: A National Sampling of Humor in Art, The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois

1988

Gran Pavese, The Flag Project, Muhka Museum Voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumRoger Brown, William Copley, Duncan Hannah, Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami

1989

Bilderstreit: Widerspruch, Einheit und Fragment in der Kunst seit 1960, Museum Ludwig in den Reinhallen der Kölner Messe, Cologne, Germany

1992

My Father’s House Has Many Mansions, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1993

Darkness and Light: Twentieth-Century Works from Texas Collections, Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of Houston, Houston

1994

Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland

1995

Bunnies – A Group Show, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New YorkDrawing the Line: Reappraising Drawings Past and Present, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, England; Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, England; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, England; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England

1996

A Labor of Love, The New Museum, New YorkBilder – Aquarelle – Zeichnungen, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, GermanyHommage a Copley, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, GermanyThink, Galerie Brigitte Ihsen, Cologne, GermanyDisegni Americani degli anni ottanta: 15 artisti, Galleria Milano, Milan, Italy

1997

Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20, Jahrhunderts, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany

1998

Summer Group Show, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New YorkThen and Now and Later: Art at Yale Since 1945, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, ConnecticutImagined World, David Nolan Gallery, New York

1999

Bad-bad: That is a good excuse, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany

2000

Prints, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New YorkIm Gegenüber: Landschaften, Stilleben, Portraits, Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich, GermanySweet Dreams and Nightmares: Dada and Surrealism from the Rosalnd and Melvin Jacobs Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami

2001

Kunst Sammeln I: Werke Zeitgenössischer Kunst aus den Sammlungen von Cramm, Faklckenburg, Kalkmann, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth, Bodenburg, GermanyMuseum Unserer Wunsche, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany

2003

Imagine: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami

2004

Funny Cuts: Cartoons und Comics in der Zeitgenössische Kunst, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, GermanyEröffnungsausstellung Sammlung Frieder Burda, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, GermanyChristmas Art Gifts, Artiscope, Brussels, BelgiumBaume, Galerie Biedermann, Munich, Germany

2005

International Zeichner, Galerie Biedermann, Munich, GermanyBilderwechsel III: Amerikanische Maleri, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany

2006

Die anderen Bilder, Museum Der Stadt, Ratingen, GermanyEle-Mental, David Nolan Gallery, New YorkSix Feed Under: Autopsie unseres Umgangs mit Toten, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandModels and Prototypes, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MissouriL’Amateur D’Estampes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing, FranceCollage Effect, 1301PE, Los Angeles, CaliforniaGroup Exhibition, David Nolan Gallery, New York

2007

Rockers Island: Olbricht Collection, Museum Folkwang, Essen, GermanyDeutsche und Amerikanische Maleri, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, GermanySixties! Art, Fashion, Design Film and Photography, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, NetherlandsAffinities, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany

2008

Diana und Aktaion: Der Verbotene Blick auf die Nacktheit, Museum Kunst Palest, Düsseldorf, GermanyKarl Bohrmann – William N. Copley, Galerie Klauss Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart, GermanyCarte Blanche III – Gedichte der Fakten,Galerie Fur Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, GermanyLiebe, Love, Paare, Gustäve-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm, Germany
  • Museum Im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, Germany
  • Ulm Museum, Ulm GermanyMirror, Mirror, Ed Thorp Gallery, New York

2009

And Other Essays, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New YorkExile On Main St., Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, NetherlandsJr. and Son’s, Zach Feuer Gallery, New YorkThe Long Arm of Coincidence: Selections from the Rosalind and Melvin Jacobs Collection, Pace MacGill Gallery, New York

2010

Sixties – Seventies, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris, FranceIntimacy! Bathing in Art, Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Ahlen, GermanyPermanent Trouble: Sammlung Kopp, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

2011

After Shelly Duval ’72 , Maccarone Gallery, New YorkAndreas Slominski & William N. Copley – X-Rated, M.E. Collector’s Room, Berlin, Germany
  • ADAA Art Fair, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2012

Interiors, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York

2013

Re-View, Hauser and Wirth Gallery, London, EnglandGang Bust: William N. Copley & Big Fat Black Cock. Inc, Venus Over Manhattan, New YorkMasculine / Feminine, Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin, GermanyBuilding the Sukka, House of Gaga, Mexico City, Mexico

2014

Pop Abstraction, Fredericks and Fraser Gallery and Garth Greenan Gallery, New YorkPurple States, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New YorkLive and Let Die, Modern Art, London, EnglandAlexander the Great: The Iolas Gallery 1955 – 1987, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
  • Art Basel Miami Beach, Sadie Coles HQ, MiamiThe Surrealist Bungalow, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, GermanyWhat Nerve!: Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present, RISD Museum, Providence

2015

The Violent Crab, David Roberts Art Foundation, London, EnglandL’Impasse Ronsin, ADAA Art Fair, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New YorkViewer Discretion: Children of Bataille, Stux & Haller Gallery, New YorkThe Shadow is Taken, Algus Greenspon, New YorkSaul Steinberg and William Copley: Take on the Life, Galerie Klauss Gerrit Friese, Berlin, GermanyPainting 2.0: Expressions in the Information Age; Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany; Mumok Museum, Vienna, Switzerland

2016

William Copley, Elma Talbot, Ina van Zyl, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsOlympia, Karma at Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris, FranceWilliam N. Copley and His Mentor, Magritte, VENUS at FIAC, Gran Palais, Paris, FranceThe Revolutionary Suicide Mechanized Band, Rob Tufnell Gallery, Cologne, GermanyImpasse Ronsin, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2017

Animal Farm, The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, ConnecticutHope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros, Hall Art Foundation, Reading, VermontItinéraires, Musée D’Arts de Nantes, Nantes, FranceSchlaf: Eine produktive Zeitverschwendung, Museen Böttcherstrasse, Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen, GermanyAn Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940 – 2017, Whitney Museum of American Art, New YorkAmerica! America! How real is real?, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany

2018

Kinder Gentler Nation, Karma, New YorkMr. Natural; And Other Works from the Allan Frumkin Gallery , VENUS, New YorkNudes, Sadie Coles, London, EnglandAtlas, Fondazione Prada, Milan, ItalyRemember to React: 60 Years of Collecting, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FloridaTrance, Aïshti Foundation, Jal El Dib, Lebanon
  • París pese a todo: Artistas extranheros, 1944-1968 , Museo Nacional Centro de Arta Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

2019

Fringe: William N. Copley, Jenny Watson & Saskia Pintelon, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, BelgiumRecline: Portraiture & Henri Matisse Prints, McClain Gallery, Houston, Texas

2020

Valley of Gold: Southern California and the Phantasmagoric, Kasmin, New YorkKarel Appel, André Butzler, William N. Copley, Ida Ekblad, Jeff Elrod, Walton Ford, Tursic & Mille, Galerie Max Hetzler, London, EnglandHelmut Newton 100 / William N. Copley 101 / Jonathan Monk 51, Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Berlin, GermanyImpasse Ronsin. Murder, Love, and Art in the Heart of Paris, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland

2023

SEE YOURSELF AS LOVERS SEE YOU: William N. Copley | Dorothy Iannone, Sammlung Philara, DüsseldorfThe Curatorial Imagination of Walter Hopps, The Menil Collection, Houston, TexasPictures Girls Make: Portraitures, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles

2023–2024

Paraventi: Folding Screens from the 17th to 21st Centuries, Fondazione Prada, Milan2024Americans in Paris: Artists working in Postwar France, 1946–1962, The Grey Art Museum, New York University, New York

Selected press

*
*

Museum and public collections