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Though originally trained in painting, William Wegman is known for his photographic images featuring dogs — primarily his own Weimaraners — in various costumes and poses, and with an array of props. Wegman embarked on a 12-year collaboration with his first dog, Man Ray, who appeared in numerous photographs and videos. In 1986 Wegman acquired a new dog, Fay Ray, beginning a second collaboration in which the artist began using a 20-by-24-inch Polaroid; Wegman’s cast would grow after Fay Ray gave birth to a litter. He has also produced artist books in which his dogs feature as the lead characters, as in his much-loved dog version of Cinderella.

William Wegman (b. 1943, Holyoke) lives and works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2018), Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland (2017) and Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York (2017). Numerous retrospectives of Wegman’s work have toured Europe, Asia and the United States and his work has been collected by prestigious public and private collections worldwide.

My Weimaraners are perfect fashion models. Their elegant, slinky forms are covered in gray – and gray, everyone knows, goes with anything.

William Wegman

Biography

Education

  • 1965

    Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA, USA

  • 1967

    University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana, IL, USA

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2022

    Writing by Artist, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA

    Art by Artist, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Painting by Artist, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

  • 2019

    80s Music, MLIS Artotheque, Villeurbanne, France

    Postcard Works, Galerie Florence Loewy, Paris, France

    Being Human, Christchurch Art Gallery

    Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Museo d’arte della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

    Gemeentemuseum den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands

    Outside In, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT, USA

    Mondo Animale, Galerie Klüser, Munich, Germany

  • 2018

    Before/On/After: William Wegman and California Conceptualism, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA

    Vogue, Imago Gallery, Palm Springs, CA, USA

    Cinderalla Polaroids, Galerie Met, Metropolitan Opera, New York, NY, USA

    Sit!, Moss Art Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, VA, USA

    Being Human, Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles, Arles, France

    Instant Miami, Williams Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA

  • 2017

    Improved Photographs, Telfair Museums Jepson Center, Savannah, GA, USA

    Please Stand By, Richard A. and Rissa W. Grossman Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA

    Reel to Real, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME, USA

    Dressed and Undressed, Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 2016

    Postcard Paintings, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA

    Drawings, Magenta Plains Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    New and Used Furniture 1972-2015, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Good Dogs on Nice Furniture, Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA

  • 2015

    Artists Including Me, The Krannert Art Museum at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; traveling to the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, USA

    Good Dogs on Nice Furniture, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA

    Good Dogs on Nice Furniture, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Cubism and Other-Isms, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC, USA

    Good Dogs on Nice Furniture, Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

    Good Dogs on Nice Furniture & Cubism and Other -Isms, Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

  • 2014

    Cubism and Other -Isms, Senior and Shopmaker Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Way Up in Maine: The Works of William Wegman, Emery Flex Gallery, Farmington, NM, USA

  • 2013

    The Traveler, Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT, USA

    He Took Two Pictures, One Came Out, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Photographs and Drawings from the 1970s, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Eureka: William Wegman Photographs 1970-1975, Craig F. Starr Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 2012

    Artists Including Me, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA

    Drawings for a Better Tomorrow and a Worse Yesterday, Salon 94 Freemans, New York, NY, USA

    Hello Nature, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME, USA; traveled to Artipelag, Varmdo, Stockholm, Sweden

  • 2011

    Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, USA

    New Photos, Galerie Bugdahn Und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 2010

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Some Tricks, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Polaroids 1987-1995, Senior and Shopmaker Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Fay, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL, USA

    Family Combinations, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Inside/Outside, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA, USA

    Paintings, Photographs, Video, Chang Art, Beijing, China

    Out of the Box, Hallmark Institute of Photography, Turners Falls, MA, USA

  • 2009

    Artspace@Heutrans, Tanjon Pagar Distripark, Singapore

    Unexpected Wegman, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

    Fay, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, USA

    New Work, Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dogs on Rocks, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 2008

    Paintings, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME, USA

    Photographs, Maine Media Workshop, Rockport, ME, USA

    Fay, Allentown Museum of Art, Allentown, PA, USA

    Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

    Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA

  • 2007

    New Paintings, Robilant and Voena, London, UK

    Wegman Outdoors, Senior and Shopmaker Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea

    William Wegman and no Dogs, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 2006

    Adamson Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

    Black and White Photographs, Galerie Wouter van Leewen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Funney/Strange, organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, USA; travelled to: Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, USA. The Wexner Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, USA

    New & Improved (1974-2006), Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA

    Senior & Shopmaker Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 2005

    Galerie Stephen Hoffman, Munich, Germany

    Man’s Best Friend: Photographs and Videos, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

    Strange But True, Hudson Guild, New York, NY, USA

  • 2004

    Parco Museum, Tokyo, Japan

    Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, BC, USA

    Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX, USA

    deprises et reprises :annotations, corrections et deplacements: 1969-2003, Domaine de Kerguehennec, Bignan, France

    Recent Paintings, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA

    Recent Polaroids, Galerie Bugdahn and Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

    Selected Polaroids From the Early Nineties, Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2003

    Charlotte Lund Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

    Recent Polaroids, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA

    Centro Jose Guerrero, Diputacion de Granada, Spain; Artium, Vitoria, Spain

    Senior & Shopmaker Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Winston Wacter, Seattle, WA, USA

    Galleria Cardi & Co, Milan, Italy

    VB-valokuvakeskus photographic centre, Kuopio, Finland

    Recent Polaroids, Grant Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    New Pigment Prints, Adamson Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

    Paintings, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA

    Reading Two Books, Pace/Macgill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 2002

    William Wegman in the 59th Minute: Video Art on the Times Square Astrovision, Creative Time and Panasonic, New York, NY, USA

    Indian in the Refrigerator and other printed works, Printed Matter, New York, NY, USA

    Recent Work, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX, USA

    Roman Zenner, Stuttgart, Germany

    Fashion Photographs…and More: Works on Paper and Video, 1970 to 2001, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada

    Early Video / Recent Video, New Drawings / Earlier Paintings; Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Photo + Drawing + Video = William Wegman, South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Savage, Portland, OR, USA

    Early Drawings / Early Video, Recent Drawings / Recent Video, Gorney, Bravin & Lee, New York, NY, USA

  • 2001

    Serie “La Iglesia”, Galeria De Aizpuru, Madrid, Spain

    Fashion Photographs, Contemporary Art Museum, University of Southern Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL, USA

    Drawings, Photographs and Videos: 1970 – 2000, University of Southern Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL, USA

    Fashion Photographs, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, USA

    A Brief Survey of Earlier Work, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, USA

    Fashion Photographs, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA, USA

    Early Works, Patrick & Beatrice Haggerty Museum Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

  • 2000

    Pillsbury Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA

    The Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA, USA

    Photography, Video, Drawing and Painting, 1970 – 2000, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    The McKinney Ave Contemporary, Dallas, TX, USA

    Canis Ecclesiorum, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY, USA

    Fashion Photographs, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Once Upon a Time: Contemporary Art for Children for Childrens Books, Cleveland

    Center of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 1999

    Art in the News, The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, FL, USA

    SOMA Gallery, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Drawing, Video Painting, Photography, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, USA

    Return of the Weimaraner, ACC Gallery Weimar, Germany

    Durant-Dessert Gallery, Paris, France

    Fashion Photographs, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, USA

    David Floria Gallery, Aspen, CO, USA

    David Adamson Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

  • 1998

    William Wegman, Rooseum, Malmo, Sweden; Museet for Fotokunst,

    Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense C, Denmark; Kiasma, Nykyaiteen Museo, Finland

    PaceWildensteinMacGill, New York, NY, USA

    PaceWildensteinMacGill, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Saks Project Art, Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, USA

    Recent Work, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA

    Strange But True, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and Springfield Museum, Springfield, MA, USA

  • 1997

    Fay’s Fairy Tales, Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    William Wegman, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan; Museum “EKI,” Kyoto, Japan

    Drawings 1973-1997, Fonds Regional d’Art Contemporain Limousin, Limoges, France

    Lost and Found, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Gallery Art Point, Tokyo, Japan

    Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid, Spain

    Six Scenic Scenes, The Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ, USA

    Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

    Jay Gorney Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1996

    Paintings, Drawing, Photographs, Videotapes, The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph, MO, USA; Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID, USA; Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA, USA; San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, USA; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, USA; Austin Museum of Art, TX, USA; The Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN, USA; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI, USA; Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL, USA; Art Center of Battle Creek, MI, USA (traveling 1996-1999)

    Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France

    Galleri Larsen, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ehlers Caudill Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

    Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, USA

    Fay, New York, April 1994, Photokina 96, Leverkusen, Germany

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

  • 1995

    A William Wegman Primer: Shapes, Numbers and Alphabet, George Eastman House: International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, NY, USA

    Photographs, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA

    Weimar den Weimaranern, ACC Galerie Weimar, Germany

    Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA

    PaceWildenstein/MacGill, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, Germany

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Anderson Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kristina Wasserman Gallery, Providence, RI, USA

    Campbell Contemporary Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    David Adamson Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

  • 1994

    Lisa Sette Gallery, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Edition Julie Sylvester, New York, NY, USA

    William Wegman, Art Metropole, Toronto, Canada

    Hamiltons, London, UK

    McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

    Linda Cathcart Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

  • 1993

    William Wegman’s Cinderella, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA

    Out of Doors, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, USA

    William Wegman, Museo de Monterrey, Mexico

    Fay’s Fairy Tales, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA; The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, USA; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX, USA; Ansel Adams Center for Photography, San Francisco, CA, USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, USA

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris, France

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

  • 1992

    Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich, Germany

    Field Guide to North America, Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Paintings and Drawings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Linda Cathcart Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1991

    Outdoor Photographs, Neuberger Museum, State University of New York at Purchase, Purchase, New York, NY, USA

    Photographic Works 1969-76, Fonds Regional d’Art Contemporain Limousin, Limoges, France

  • 1990

    Linda Cathcart Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    The History of Travel, The Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH, USA; The Butler Institute, Youngstown, OH, USA

    Galerie 36, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Videotapes, Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, Switzerland; ICA, London, UK; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Frankfurt Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; ICA, Boston, MA, USA; Ringling Museum, Sarasota, FL, USA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX, USA

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1989

    Maison de la Culture et de la Communication de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France

    Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris, France

  • 1988

    La Jolla Vista View, The Stuart Collection, University of San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Polaroids and Videos, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Thomas Soloman’s Garage, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    New Paintings, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

    Photographs, G.H. Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Man Ray Commemorative Prints, Solo Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1987

    McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

  • 1986

    Color Photographs, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Improved Photographs, Daniel Wolf Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1985

    Instant Miami, Lowe Museum of Art, Miami, FL, USA

  • 1984

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1983

    Local Boy Makes Good, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    Videoworks, Institute of Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum, Richmond, VA, USA

    Wegman’s Photographs from the Ed Ruscha Collection and Wegman’s Videotapes: Survey, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA, USA

    $19.84, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

  • 1982

    Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

    McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

    James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

    Locus Solus, Genoa, Italy

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Wegman’s World, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA; The Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, USA; De Cordova & Dana Museum & Park, Lincoln, MA, USA; The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, IL, USA; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA; Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA, USA

  • 1980

    Selected Works 1970-79, University of Colorado Art Galleries, Boulder, CO, USA; Aspen Center for Visual Arts, Aspen, CO, USA

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1979

    Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, England, UK

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Konrad Fischer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 1978

    Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

  • 1977

    Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 1976

    The Kitchen, New York, NY, USA

  • 1975

    Mayor Gallery, London, UK

    Konrad Fischer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 1974

    112 Greene Street, New York, NY, USA

    Galleria Toselli, Milan, Italy

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

  • 1973

    Galerie Sonnabend, Paris, France

    Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

    Francoise Lambert and Claire Copley Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA

  • 1972

    Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA

    Konrad Fischer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany

    Situation Gallery, London, UK

  • 1971

    Pomona College of Art, Pomona, CA, USA

    Galerie Sonnabend, Paris, France

Selected images