1920
Born in London, England

1938-1946
Served in British armed forces

1972-1977
Editor in Chief of Artforum

2003
Died in New York, USA


selected exhibitions

2011
Projectroom, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France (solo)

2007
A Legacy, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany (solo)

2005
Suddenly Older, Clifford Gallery at Colgate University, Hamilton, USA

2004
Ideale e Realta: A History of the Nude, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
John Coplans, Craigie Horsfield, Ingrid Mwangi, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Revisit the Mirror: Self-Portraits through Time, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, USA
John Coplans: Serial Figures, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
John Coplans: Early Photographs, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, USA (solo)
John Coplans: Body Parts, Galerie Visor, Valencia, Spain (solo)
John Coplans: Body Parts, A Self Portrait, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, USA (solo)
John Coplans Photographs, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, USA

2003
John Coplans, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, USA (solo)
Imperfect Innocence: The Debra and Dennis Scholl Collection, Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, USA
Cruel and Tender: the real in twentieth century photography, Tate Modern, London, England
John Coplans: Self Portraits, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, USA
Exhibiting Signs of Age, Art Museum at University of California, Berkeley; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, USA
Counterparts: The Self-Portraiture of Joan Semmel and John Coplans, Kresge Gallery, Berrie Center, Ramapo, USA

2002
An American Century of Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk; Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA
Portrait as Performance, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond; Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, USA
Heroes Caidos: Masculinidad y representacion, Espai D'Art Contemporani de Castello, Valencia, Spain
Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
John Coplans, Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (solo)

2001
John Coplans, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany (solo)
John Coplans, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, USA

2000
John Coplans, Self Portrait: Finger. Galerie Nordenhake, Stokholm, Sweden (solo)
John Coplans, A Self Portrait, 1984-2000, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Sweden (solo)
John Coplans, Self Portrait: Finger, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France (solo)
Self Portrait - Finger, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, USA (solo)
John Coplans: A Self Portrait, 1984-1997, Fondation ICAR, Institute for the Cooperation of Art Research, Paris, France.(solo)