Exhibitions

Gordon Onslow Ford, Propaganda for Love, 1940, oil/canvas, 41 1/4" x 66 1/2", Gordon Onslow Ford Collection, Lucid Art Foundation

To request artwork loans for an exhibition, please fill out this form. Fees apply for commercial loans. The Lucid Art Foundation has the copyright for all works, paintings, and texts by Gordon Onslow Ford. To request permission to reproduce any Onslow Ford work for noncommercial and educational purposes, please fill out this form.

 

Current Exhibitions

Surréalisme
September 4, 2024 - January 13, 2025
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Image: Propaganda for Love, 1940.

 

Selected Past Exhibitions

Gordon Onslow Ford and JB Blunk
November 13, 2022 - January 8, 2023
Blunk Space Gallery, Point Reyes, California

Image: Lunelipse Series, 1951.

Tertium Organum: Traversing Space
August 20-October 15, 2022
Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California

Review by Art and Cake magazine here

Surrealism Beyond Borders
February 24 – August 29, 2022
Tate Modern, London, England

Image: A Present for the Past, 1942. Collection of Tate Modern, London, England.

Ship of Dreams: Artists, Poets, and Visionaries of the S.S. Vallejo April 28-June 10, 2018 at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and
January 12-March 17, 2019 at Bolinas Museum.
For more information and to purchase the catalog, click here.

Image: Forest Go Round (detail), 1951. Gordon Onslow Ford Collection, Lucid Art Foundation.

Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950
October 25, 2016 - January 8, 2017
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Image: The Marriage (detail), 1944. Private Collection

Gordon Onslow Ford: Centennial Celebration
January 26 - February 26, 2013
Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California
To view the catalog, click here, and to read the review, click here.

Image: The Circuit of the Light Knight Through the Dark Queen, 1942. Gordon Onslow Ford Collection, Lucid Art Foundation

Stellar Orbits
September 6 - October 27, 2012
Wendi Norris Gallery, San Francisco, California

Image:The Painter and the Muse, 1943. Collection of the Berkeley Art Museum

Gordon Onslow Ford: Voyager and Visionary
February 11 - May 13, 2012
Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
To view the catalog, click here.

Image: Storm Struck, 1947. Private Collection

Gordon Onslow Ford: Paintings and Works on Paper 1939 – 1951
October 14 – December 23, 2010
Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, New York, New York
For more information and to purchase the catalog, click here, and to read the review click here.

Image: Temptation of the Painter, 1941. Gordon Onslow Ford Collection, Lucid Art Foundation

Exhibition History

2024: “Surréalisme.” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2024: "Gertrud Parker: The Possible." Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California.
2023: “Four Horizons.” Blunk Space Gallery, Point Reyes, California.
2023: “In the Shadow of Mt. Tam.” Anthony Meier Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California.
2023: “Same Blue as the Sky.” Four One Nine, San Francisco, California.
2022: “Gordon Onslow Ford and JB Blunk.” Blunk Space Gallery, Point Reyes, California.
2022: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Member of the Lucid Art Movement.” Findlay Galleries, New York, New York
2022: "Tertium Organum: Traversing Space." Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California.
2022: “Surrealism Beyond Borders.” Tate Modern, London, England.
2021: "Surrealism in American Art." Centre de la Vieille Charité, Ville de Marseille, France.
2020: “FAULTline Art Show–The County Experience.” Marin Civic Center, San Rafael, California.
2019: “The Surrealist Revolution in America.” Napa Valley Museum, Yountville, California.
2019: “Surrealism in Mexico.” Di Donna Galleries, New York, New York.
2018: “Dimensionism: Modern Art in the Age of Einstein.” Berkeley Museum of Art, Berkeley, California.
2018: “Reverberations: A Visual Conversation.” Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, California.
2018: “Collecting on the Edge.” Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
2018: “Hello World. Revising a Collection.” Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin.
2018: "Ship of Dreams: Artists, Poets and Visionaries of the S.S. Vallejo." Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, California; and 2019 at Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California.
2018: "Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times (Part I)." di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, California.
2017: "Surrealist Drawings on Paper." Galerie 1900–2000, Paris, France.
2017: "Los Modernos. Dialogues France/Mexico." Musée de Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon, France.
2016: “Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910–1950.” Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2015: "Science in Surrealism." Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, California.
2015: “Fields of Dream: The Surrealist Landscape.” Di Donna Gallery, New York, New York.
2015: “The Avant-Garde Collection.” Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana, California.
2014: "Restless Universe: Inner Thought/Outer Space." David Findlay Jr. Gallery, New York, New York.
2014: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Space Elements.” David Findlay Jr. Gallery, New York, New York. (solo)
2014: “Western Light, Ecstatic Landscapes.” Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, Idaho.
2013: “Farewell to Surrealism: The Dyn Circle in Mexico.” Getty Research Institute, Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.
2013: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Centennial Celebration.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2013: “Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art.” The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California.
2013: “Action and Chance: A New Look at Drip.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2013: "Image to Gesture 1945-1969: California Postwar Abstraction." David Findlay Jr. Gallery, New York, New York.
2012: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Centennial Celebration.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2012: “Stellar Orbits.” Wendi Norris Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2012: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Voyager and Visionary.” Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. (solo)
2011: “The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art.” Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
2011: “Surrealism: New Worlds.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2010: "The Visionary Art of Morris Graves." Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2010: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Paintings and Works on Paper 1939 – 1951.” Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, New York, New York. (solo)
2010: “Cosmic: Artists Consider Astronomy." Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho.
2009: “The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia,1860-1989.” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York.
2008: “Landscapes of Consciousness.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2007: “Dreams on Canvas.” Nassau County Museum of Art, New York, New York.
2007: “Gordon Onslow Ford: From the Vallejo: 1949-1959.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2007: “1937: Perfecktion und Zerstorung.” Kunsthalle-Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
2006: “The Formative Years: Paintings from the 1930’s to 1940’s.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2006: “Threshold of a New Art - Artwork of the 1950's, A Selection from the Lucid Art Foundation Collection.” California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California.
2005: “The Great Spaces of the Mind: Paintings from the 1990’s to 2000’s.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2005: "Surrealism USA.” National Academy Museum, New York, New York.
2004: “Voyagers in Space: Paintings from the 1970’s and 1980’s.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2003: “Exploring the Open Mind: Paintings from the 1950’s and 1960’s.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2003: “Roberto Matta and Gordon Onslow Ford: A Vision Shared.” Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2003: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Recent Works.” Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
2003: "Gordon Onslow Ford: The Seminal Years." Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2001: “Made in USA, l’Art Americain, 1908-1943.” Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, France and other venues.
2001: “Gordon Onslow Ford Paintings.” Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California. (solo)
2001: “Vital Forms: American Art in the Atomic Age.” Brooklyn Museum, New York, and other venues.
2001: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Radiant Beings." Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California. (solo)
2000: “Made in California.” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.
2000: “Gordon Onslow Ford Paintings.” Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1999: “The Surrealists in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School.” Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
1998: ”Gordon Onslow Ford: Mirando en lo profound / Seeing in Depth.” Fundación Eugenio Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. (solo)
1998: “The Surrealist Vision: Europe and the Americas” The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut.
1998: “Wegbereiter des Abstrakten Expressionismus in Amerika, Gordon Onslow Ford, Lee Mullican, Wolfgang Paalen” Kunstrverein Arnsberg, Nurnberg, Germany.
1997: “Through the Light: Exploration into Consciousness.” A&C Gallery, JFK University, Berkeley, California.
1997: “Aspekte Imaginativer Kunst.” Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
1997: “Années 30 en Europe 1929-1939.” Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France.
1997: “Surrealism and American Art 1932-1949.” Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida.
1997: "Hommage to the Getty.” Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
1996: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Werke 1938 – 1995.” Kunstlerforum Bonn, Bonn, Germany. (solo)
1996: “Quest of the Inner-Worlds: Paintings by Gordon Onslow Ford.” A&C Gallery, JFK University, Berkeley, California. (solo)
1995: “Inner World Images of the Unconscious.” Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
1995: “Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California Art 1934-1957.” Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, and other venues.
1995: “Gordon Onlsow Ford.” Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, University of Santiago, Santiago, Chile. (solo)
1995: “Fifteen Profiles: Distinguished California Modernists.” Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California.
1994: "Gordon Onslow Ford: Bilder / Paintings." Höcherl-Verlag, Munich, Germany. (solo)
1994: “Gordon Onslow Ford: A Retrospective.” Bochum Museum of Art, Bochum, Germany. (solo)
1994: “Counterpoints: American Art 1930-1945." Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, New York.
1993: “Lateinamerika und der Surrealismus.” Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
1993: "Gordon Onslow Ford." Galerie Brochier, Munich, Germany. (solo)
1993: "Gordon Onslow Ford: The World of Line Circle Dot.” Pavilion at the Botanical Garden, Munich, Germany. (solo)
1993: “Gordon Onslow Ford: Paintings of the Inner-Worlds.” Harcourts Modern and Contemporary Art, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1992: “Dynaton, Before and Beyond.” Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California.
1992: “Light and Color – Dynaton Painters.” Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
1991: “André Breton et le Surréalisme.” Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centro Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, and other venues.
1991: “Gordon Onslow Ford.” Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California. (solo )
1990: “Pursuit of the Marvelous: Stanley William Hayter, Charles Howard, Gordon Onslow Ford.” Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California.
1990: “Anxious Visions: Surrealist Art.” University Art Museum, Berkeley, California.
1990: “El Surrealismo Entre Viejo y Nuevo Mundo.” Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Canary Islands, Spain.
1990: Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California. (solo)
1987: “The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, and other venues.
1987: “Visions of Inner Space: Gestural Painting in Modern American Art.” Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
1986: “Moderns in Mind.” Artists Space, New York, New York.
1986: “La Planéte Affolée Surréalisme, Dispersion et Influences, 1938 – 1947.” Centre de la Vielle Charité, Marseilles, France.
1986: “Minotaure.” Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland, and other venues.
1986: “The Interpretive Link: Abstract Surrealism Into Abstract Expressionism,
Works on Paper 1938-1948.” Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, and other venues.
1986: David Cole Gallery, Inverness, California.
1985: Galerie Samy Kinge, Paris, France.
1984: "Ceci n’est pas le surrealisme, California: Idioms of Surrealism." Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
1984: "Surrealism: Work on Paper." Arnold Herstand and Company Gallery, New York, New York.
1984: “Artistic Collaboration in the Twentieth Century.” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC.
1982: “Peinture Surréaliste en Angleterre 1930 – 1960.” Galeries 1900-2000, Paris, France.
1982: “L’Echange Surréaliste” Grand Palais, Paris, France.
1982: “Drawings by Painters." Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California.
1978: “Creation.” Galerie Schreiner, Basel, Switzerland. (solo)
1977: “Retrospective Exhibition (1931-1977).” Oakland Museum, Oakland, California.
1977: “Surrealitat-Bildrealitat (1924-1974).” Staalich Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany.
1977: “Surrealism and American Art (1931-1947).” Rutgers University Art Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
1977: “California: 5 Footnotes to Modern Art History, Dynaton Revisited.” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.
1977: “Dynaton re-viewed: a show of three painters of the Dynaton movement that was first exhibited in 1951 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art / Lee Mullican, Gordon Onslow Ford, Wolfgang Paalen." Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California.
1975: “Gordon Onslow Ford, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, 1937-1975.” Pyramid Galleries, Washington, D.C. (solo)
1973: Rose Rabow Gallery, San Francisco, California.
1971: "Other Landscapes and Shadow Land, Visionary Painting by Ten Bay Area Artists." University of Southern California Art Galleries, Los Angeles, California.
1971: “Gordon Onslow-Ford: A Partial Retrospective.” Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. (solo)
1970: “Gordon Onlsow Ford, Large Paintings.” San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1968: “Dada, Surrealism, and their Heritage.” Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, and other venues.
1966: Rose Rabow Gallery, San Francisco, California.
1964: “Retrospective Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolors.” San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1962: "Some Points of View-’62.” Stanford University Art Gallery and Museum, Stanford, California.
1962: “Fifty California Artists." San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
1962: “Gordon Onslow Ford, 1951-1962.” M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California.
1960: “Paintings by Gordon Onslow Ford.” Rose Rabow Gallery, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1959: “Gordon Onslow Ford and Richard Bowman.” San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
1956: Alexander Rabow Galleries, San Francisco, California.
1951: "Dynaton." San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
1948: “Towards a New Subject in Painting.” San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California. (solo)
1946: Karl Nierendorf Gallery, New York, New York. (solo)
1941: New School for Social Research, New York, New York.
1940: "International Exhibition of Surrealism." Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, Mexico.
1940: “Surrealism.” Zwemmer Gallery, London, England.
1939: Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France.
1938 “Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme.” Palais des Beaux Arts, Paris, France.

Collections

Gordon Onslow Ford in public collections:

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, California
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
di Rosa, Napa, California
Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Fort Lauderdale Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Morgan Library & Museum, New York, New York
Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, California
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Nova Southeastern University Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Nebraska
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, District of Columbia
Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York
Tate Modern Museum, London, England
University of Antwerp Museum, Antwerp, Belgium
University of California, Davis, California
University of California Irvine Institute and Museum of California Art, Irvine, California
University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York