Jim Dine
Biography
Jim Dine (born June 16, 1935, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a celebrated American artist known for a prolific and diverse body of work spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and an extensive range of printmaking techniques, including woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, and intaglio. While frequently linked with Pop Art, Dine’s emotionally charged use of everyday objects such as tools, bathrobes, and hearts sets him apart from the movement’s often impersonal tone.
Dine’s formal art education began at age 16 with night classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Inspired by German Expressionist woodcuts, he began experimenting with printmaking in his grandparents’ basement. He later studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Boston Museum School before earning a BFA from Ohio University in 1957.
After moving to New York in 1958, Dine became an early pioneer of performance art and Happenings, collaborating with Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and Bob Whitman. His first major exhibitions and performance pieces—including The Smiling Workman and Car Crash—established his reputation for blending theatricality, symbolism, and personal narrative.
Dine rose to prominence in the 1960s, particularly following his inclusion in the landmark 1962 Pop Art exhibition New Painting of Common Objects at the Pasadena Art Museum. However, his work consistently retained a personal and expressive dimension, incorporating self-referential motifs and classical imagery, such as the Venus de Milo.
In addition to his art, Dine has held notable teaching residencies at Yale, Cornell, and international academies. His collaborative relationships with major galleries and print studios across Europe and the U.S. have produced a vast and influential portfolio. Today, his work is held in prominent museum collections worldwide, including MoMA, the Tate, Centre Pompidou, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Born: 1935
Education: University of Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Ohio University
Exhibitions
Select Exhibitions
2020s
2025 (Upcoming): Jim Dine, Albertina Modern, Vienna
2024: Dog on the Forge, Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù, Venice
2023: Three Ships, Galerie Templon, New York
2022: Grace and Beauty, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris
2020: A Day Longer, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris
2010s
2019: Jim Dine, Centre Pompidou Málaga, Spain
2018: The Black Paintings, Richard Gray Gallery, New Yor
2017: Looking at the Present: Recent Works by Jim Dine, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
2015: About the Love of Printing, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
2012: Hello Yellow Glove, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris
2000s
2008: L’Odyssée de Jim Dine – Estampes 1985–2006, Centre de la Gravure, La Louvière, Belgium
2004: Retrospective, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1990s
1999: Jim Dine, 1958–1969, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
1980s
1984: Retrospective, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
1970s
1978: Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1970: Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1960s
1964: Double Isometric Self-Portrait (Serape), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1962: New Painting of Common Objects, Pasadena Art Museum, California
1960: Car Crash, Reuben Gallery, New York
1960: The Smiling Workman, Judson Church, New York