1936

Tony Magar is born in London, England.

1952

Magar joins the British Merchant Navy and travels to Africa, China, India, and Spain.

1954-1960

Magar begins his studies at Royal Albert Hall School of Speech and Literature, London. He moves to New York and works as a hairdresser. He spends one year painting in Malaga, Spain.

1960-1962

Magar returns to New York and joins sculptor Mark di Suvero's studio as an assistant. Magar learns to cut and weld various metals. He begins to produce his own sculptures and participates in several exhibitions including the "New Forms—New Media I and II" show at the legendary Martha Jackson Gallery in New York City in the summer of 1960. Magar's piece (Untitled) receives a favorable review in Time.

1963-1967

Magar co-founds Park Place Gallery with Mark di Suvero and several other West Coast artists. Magar is credited with hiring influential gallerist Paula Cooper as Park Place's first director. Magar establishes his own studio and produces large painted steel sculptures. Magar also creates a series of canvas paintings, titled "The Burn Paintings," for which he uses an oxy acetylene blow-torch to scorch, singe, and discolor his canvases.

Magar participates in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Sculptural Annual in New York City. He shows at the Dwan Gallery in Los Angeles, a seminal West Coast contemporary gallery.

1968-1976

Magar leaves New York City after the closing of Park Place and the loss of two of his New York studios following accidental fires that destroy his work and studio equipment. He settles in Denver where he takes a teaching position for one semester at the University of Denver.

Magar installs a monumental sculptural work in Burns Park, Denver, that he later dedicates to Martin Luther King Jr.

Magar joins Libre, an eco-friendly, off-grid, back-to-nature commune in the mountains of Southern Colorado founded by artists Dean and Linda Flemming (Park Place alum). Magar immerses himself in Buddhism studies.

1976-1992

Magar moves to Taos, New Mexico, and establishes his new studio. He rejoins the art scene and participates in a favorably reviewed group show at Maggie Kress Gallery. He becomes one of the most well-respected painters of the contemporary art scene in Taos and Santa Fe. He participates in numerous group and solo shows and begins exhibiting with Thom Andriola at Stables Fine Art Gallery and then at Andriola's New Gallery in Taos.

Magar's work matures through his subtle, intelligent use of color and his refined knowledge of compositional structure and form. His deep understanding and surprising solutions to visual challenges are manifested through his singular application of paint.

1994-2008

Magar moves to Pueblo, Colorado, not far from the mountains and valleys that had first enchanted him decades earlier. 

Magar enjoys major shows including "Worlds," at the Harwood Museum, University of New Mexico, Taos; New Gallery, Houston; "Absentee Universe," Mike Weiss Gallery, New York; "Buddha Sometimes," Mike Weiss Gallery, New York.

2009-2019

Magar participates in several solo and group shows at Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston, Texas, including: "Diamonds in the Bay," "Doors of Perception," "Channeling the West," Cosmic Scale," "Ethos," and "Sounds of the Bay."

2010-2022

Magar moved to Portland, Texas, where he continued to paint, read, and listen to music. He watched classic movies and consulted his copy of the I Ching for cosmological guidance. He enjoyed a daily chilled Pabst Blue Ribbon. 
Tony Magar died on November 22, 2022.