Born in Greenock, Scotland. Lived and worked in London and Somerset. 1924: Moved with family to Eniskillin, Northern Ireland. 1931-35: Royal Academy Schools, London. 1937: Marriage to Mary Lucas; two sons, Robertand James. Travelled to Florence, Venice and Rome. Settled briefly in Pont Aven, France; founded Summer Painting School, with Mary Scott and Geoffrey Nelson. 1938-39: Lived briefly in St Tropez, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Dublin, and London. 1941: Moved to Hallatrow, Somerset. 1942: First one-person exhibition, Leger Galleries, London. 1942-46: Served with Royal Engineers; learned technique of lithography while in map-making section. 1946-56: Senior Painting Master, Bath Academy of Art, Wiltshire. 1950: Group exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London. 1952: Acquired studio in Chelsea, London. 1953: First visit to North America; taught at summer school of Banff School of Fine Arts; visited New York. Sao Paolo Biennale. 1954: Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, with Barbara Hepworth and Francis Bacon. 1955: "documenta," Kassel (and 1959, 1964). 1956: First one-person exhibition in US, Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (where he subsequently exhibited frequently). 1958: Venice Biennale. 1959: Retrospective, Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris (travelled to Cologne, Brussels, Zurich, Rotterdam). 1960: Retrospective, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover. 1963: "British Painting in the 60s," Tate (toured UK). 1966: Gimpel & Hanover Gallery, Zurich. 1972: Tate. 1974: Gimpel Fils Gallery, London (where he susequently exhibited frequently); Arnolfini, Bristol. 1975: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. 1977: "British Painting 1952-1977," Royal Academy of Arts, London. 1984: Elected to Royal Academy, London. 1986: Retrospective, Ulster Museum, Belfast (travelled to Dublin, Edinburgh). "British Art in the 20th Century," Royal Academy of Arts, London. 1989: Berkeley Square Gallery, London; Beaux-Arts Gallery, Bath. 1990: Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London. 1992: Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York.
