The idea must have meaning for me.
The final result—the painting—must convey the way I think and feel about the world.
How other art or ideas influence me—whether music, poetry, or the daily drama of life—remains a mystery. Abstract art, though, is not a personal emotional spasm of throwing paint around; my work concerns exploring and inventing.
One night in New York City: I was listening to John Coltrane playing his saxophone when I realized he wasn’t playing music—he was exploring and inventing the music. Mozart, too, was always longing to reach a higher form of expression.
Would that my paintings be so compelling. Creating art frees me to expand on my inner thoughts—my place to discover.
The world of abstraction is where I invent and explore.
—Tony Magar
Collections
- BBVA Corporate Collection
- IBM Corporate Collection
- Harwood Museum of Art
- Estate of Larry Bell, Artist
- Estate of Dennis Hopper, Actor, Photographer
- Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Estate of Elizabeth Taylor, Actress
- I. Magnin Corporate Collection
- Estate of Jonathon Altman
- Microsoft Art Collection
- Estate of Albert List, Industrialist and Philanthropist
- SOHIO Standard Oil of Ohio
- Butler-Binion Corporate Collection
- Estate of Howard Taylor, Actor
- Estate of Gary Grossman, Attorney
- J. Patrick Lannan Foundation Collection
- Ethel Redner Scull Collection
- Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Bronfman, Seagrams Whisky
- Estate of Virginia Dawn, Gallerist and Philanthropist
Solo Exhibitions
- 1965 Tony Magar Sculpture / Dean Fleming Paintings / Tony Magar Sculpture, Park Place Gallery, New York
- Tony Magar / Robert Grosvenor / Gay Glading, Park Place Gallery, New York, Tony Magar / Forrest Myers, Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
- 1973 Wilamaro Gallery, Denver
- 1980 The Stables Gallery, Taos Art Associates, Taos, NM
- 1981 Taylor Gallery, Taos, NM
- 1982 New Gallery Taos, NM (later exhibitions in 1983 and 1984)
- 1985 3-D Paintings, New Gallery, Houston
- 1986 New Gallery Houston
- 1987 3-D Paintings, New Gallery, Houston
- 1988 Sena Galleries West, Santa Fe, NM
- 1989 New Directions Gallery Taos, NM (subsequent exhibitions in 1990, 1991, 1996 and 1997)
- New Gallery, Houston, TX (subsequent exhibitions in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006)
- 2000 Cline-Lew Allen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- 2004 Worlds, Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM
- 2005 Tony Magar: Absentee Universe, Mike Weiss Gallery New York
- 2006 Realm of the Spirit, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York
- 2008 Mike Weiss Gallery, New York
Group Exhibitions
- 1960 New Forms—New Media I and II, Martha Jackson Gallery New York
- 1962 New York Group, Green Gallery, New York. Allan Stone Gallery, New York
- 1963 Group Show, Park Place Gallery, New York
- 1964 Group Show, Park Place Gallery, New York
- Park Place Invitational Show, Park Place Gallery New York
- Welfare Island Art Festival, New York
- Noah Goldowsky Gallery, New York
- 1965 4D, John Daniels Gallery New York
- San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
- Sculpture in All Directions, World House Galleries, New York
- 1966 Group Shows, Park Place Gallery, New York (Feb.-Mar.; Sept.- Oct.)
- Sculpture Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Park Place Group Show at J. Patrick Lannan's Four Winds Gallery, Palm Beach, FL [Lannan Foundation Museum]
- 1967 Art for the City, Institute for Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Park Place Gallery, Friends of Contemporary Art, Denver
- Drawing Exhibition, New York University, New York
- 1968 Park Place Group, Hayden Gallery MIT, Cambridge, MA
- Monumental Sculpture Symposium/Exhibition, Burns Park, Denver
- Great Southwest Industrial Park Exhibition, Atlanta
- 1978 Maggie Kress Gallery Taos, NM
- The Stables Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- 1979 Santa Fe Festival of the Arts, Santa Fe, NM
- LRFA, Houston, TX (subsequent exhibitions in 2009, 2019)