Timeline 1936–2011
Birth
Born on 11 February in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Military Studies
Studied at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Military Service
Served in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
Art Studies
Left the army to study painting at Saint Martin’s School of Art, London.
First Pop Art Paintings
First developed ‘tonal pointilism’ system of halftone paintings.
Young Contemporaries 63 exhibition
Paintings, including Brigitte Bardot, exhibited in the Young Contemporaries 63 exhibition at the RBA Galleries, London.
First Visit to New York
Visited New York City for the first time, meeting Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Andy Warhol, and working as studio assistant for Indiana.
Lincoln Convertible
Recently returned to London from his first New York visit, Laing painted Lincoln Convertible in response to to the assassination of President Kennedy.
Paris Biennale
Work included in the Third Paris Biennale of Young Artists at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Move to New York
Having received an offer of representation from Richard Feigen, Laing moved to New York upon graduating from Saint Martin’s School of Art.
Skydiver series
Hybrid Project
Collaboration by Gerald Laing and Peter Phillips.
Young Contemporaries 64 exhibition
Lincoln Convertible, Lotus I, Dragster III and Countdown (Silkscreen) exhibited in the Young Contemporaries 64 exhibition at the RBA Galleries, London.
Abstract Sculpture
Began to work with paint on metal sheets. Work became more abstract and sculptural.
Primary Structures exhibition
Three of Laing’s abstract sculptures feature in the Primary Structures exhibition at the Jewish Museum, New York.
Artist-in-residence
Artist-in-residence at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, Colorado.
Kinkell and sculpture in the landscpae
Moved to Scotland and rebuilt Kinkell Castle, for which he won a Civic Trust Award. Began to place work in the landscape around Kinkell, making it more three dimensional and rugged.
Establishment of tapestry company
Established tapestry company, Brose Patrick (Scotland) Ltd, at Loch Ussie, which operated until 1975.
Callanish
_rgb__525w.jpg)
First major public commission, Callanish (Steel Henge), for the University of Strathclyde.
Artist-in-residence
Artist-in-residence at the Aspen Center for the Visual Arts, Colorado (Tamarind Institute).
Figurative sculpture
Began to work with figurative sculpture.
The Galina series
Created The Galina Series, Laing’s first development in figurative sculpture.
New Mexico
Visiting Professor of Painting and Sculpture at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Bronze foundry
Established bronze foundry at Kinkell Castle with the assistance of George Mancini.
Frieze of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
Created first figurative public commission, Frieze of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
Aspen and Brixton
Worked in Aspen, Colorado, and Brixton, London. Began to work with portrait commissions.
Columbia University
Taught sculpture at Columbia University, New York.
Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland
Appointed to the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland.
Sherlock Holmes public commission
Completed Sherlock Holmes - A Memorial to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a public sculpture commission for Picardy Place, Edinburgh.
Axis Mundi sculpture
Completed Axis Mundi, a public sculpture commission sited in front of Tanfield House, Edinburgh.
Retrospective exhibition, Edinburgh
Exhibition Gerald Laing: A Retrospective 1963–1993 at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh.
Barbican exhibition
Brigitte Bardot, Panoply, Souvenir (of the Cuban Missile Crisis Oct 16–28 1962) included in The Sixties Art Scene in London exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery, London.
Portrait of Luciano Pavarotti
Completed commissioned work Portrait of Luciano Pavarotti.
The Four Twickenham Rugby Players
Completed The Four Twickenham Rugby Players, a Rugby Football Union commission for Twickenham Stadium.
Portrait bust of John Paul Getty Jnr
_wbg__large.jpg)
Completed Portrait Bust of John Paul Getty Jnr, commissioned and sited inside the main entrance to The National Gallery, London.
Sculpture exhibition, The Fine Art Society
Exhibition Gerald Laing: Sculpture 1968–1999 at The Fine Art Society, London.
Gerald Laing Art Foundation
Established the Gerald Laing Art Foundation to promote the understanding, appreciation and practice of public sculpture.
Iraq war series
Created a series of paintings in response to the Iraq war, returning to the ‘tonal pointillism’ system of halftone painting.
Pop art exhibition, Tate Britain
Skydiver VI included in the Art & the 60s: This Was Tomorrow exhibition at the Tate Britain, London.
Iraq war paintings exhibitions
Iraq war paintings exhibited in Cambridge, New York and Paris.
Prints and Multiples catalogue published
Gerald Laing Prints and Multiples: A Catalogue Raisonné published.
Amy Winehouse series
Created the Amy Winehouse series of paintings.
The Lineout sculpture, Twickenham Stadium
Completed The Lineout bronze sculpture commission for Rugby Football Union, situated at Twickenham Stadium.
Death
Died on the 23rd November 2011, at the age of 75, at his home Kinkell Castle.
Retrospective exhibition at The Fine Art Society, London
A major retrospective exhibition, Gerald Laing 1936–2011: A Retrospective, held at The FIne Art Society, London.
Publication of Catalogue Raisonné
Publication of Gerald Laing: Catalogue Raisonné.