1927: Born October 3 in Chicago to Walter Raleigh Cook and Etta Stevens Cook.

1945: Attends Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, and graduates with B.F.A. in 1950.

1948–49: Fall and spring semesters, studies Fundamentals and Life Drawing at The American Academy of Art, Chicago.

1949: Evening division, spring semester, studies intaglio printmaking with Vera Berdich at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Spring semester, attends lecture series conducted by Stanley W. Hayter at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Marries Marilyn Wilson.

1950–51: Fall 1950 and spring 1951, takes graduate courses and studies  intaglio printmaking under Mauricio Lasansky at the State University of  Iowa, Iowa City.

1951: Moves to San Francisco.

1952–58: Works to receive journeyman’s card in International Typographical Union, Local 21.

1952: December, Paul Wilson Cook born.

1953: Exhibits prints, drawings, and paintings at Porpoise Gallery, San Francisco.

1955: January, Matthew Scott Cook born.Illustrates Henry Miller’s The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder (San Francisco: The Greenwood Press, 1955). Becomes charter member of Bay Printmakers Society and exhibits in  their annual exhibitions held at the Oakland Art Museum (1955–1960).

1955–69: Cook’s etchings portray mostly San Francisco landscapes (Golden Gate  Park, Diamond Heights, Lake Merced) and flowers, especially roses.

1956–63: Exhibits in San Francisco Art Association’s annual drawing and print exhibitions.

1959–62: Participates in first weekly drawing group with Alvin Light, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, and William H. Brown.

1960: Joins the Dolphin Swim and Boating Club, San Francisco.

1962–69: Teaches printmaking and drawing at San Francisco Art Institute.

1963–66: Portrays the rugged coastline of San Francisco’s Land’s End in series of etchings entitled Headland.

1964: Exhibits etchings in one-man exhibition at Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco.

1968: Resumes painting.

1969: October, marries painter Joan Brown. Moves to Rio Vista, California, and participates in second drawing group with Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, and Robert Arneson.

1970: Exhibits paintings at Bolles Gallery and Lawson Galleries, San Francisco.

1970–71: Fall 1970 and summer 1971, teaches printmaking at Sacramento State College (now California State University).

1971–73: Returns to San Francisco and teaches printmaking at Academy of Art College.

1972–74: Participates in third weekly drawing group with Joan Brown, Elmer Bischoff, and George Lloyd.

1973–85: Exhibits with Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

1974: Discontinues printmaking.

1974–75: Teaches at San Francisco State College (now California State University) and University of California, Davis.

1976–84: Organizes fourth weekly drawing group with Mark Adams, Beth Van Hoesen, and Wayne Thiebaud (later joined by Theophilus Brown).

1977: September, marries Liadain O’Donovan, literary editor and mother of six-year-old Michael O’Donovan Stewart.

1978: October, Kate O’Donovan Cook born.

1978–80: Works as driver and dispatcher for United Courier, Inc.; spends only limited hours on his artwork.

1979: Moves to Union Street address, San Francisco, from where he begins painting and drawing the Point Richmond gas tower. Winter quarter, visiting lecturer of drawing and painting at University of California, Davis.

1980–81: Private support group enables Cook to work solely on his artwork.

1982: Exhibits at Allan Stone Gallery, New York, with Wayne Thiebaud and David Beck.

1983: Teaches drawing and painting at Mills College and California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.

Suffers first heart attack.

1983–85: Resumes printmaking. Works on several print projects with Limestone  Press (Hank Hine), “made in California” (David Kelso), Teaberry Press  (Tim Berry), and Scott Green.

1984: Begins series of stick figure sculptures that soon appear in his paintings, drawings, and prints.

1984–85: Paints and prints series of Amish dolls.

1985: Begins bronze sculpture project of stick figures with “made in California.”

Dies on August 5 in San Francisco.

1953

Porpoise Gallery, San Francisco. Paintings, prints, and drawings.

1964

Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco. Etchings.

1966

San Francisco Museum of Art. Etchings. (cat.)

1970

Lawson Galleries, San Francisco. Paintings.

1971

John Bolles Gallery, San Francisco. Paintings, lithographs, and etchings.

1973

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. Paintings and drawings.

1975

Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago. Etchings, paintings, and drawings.

Kunsthandel M. L. de Boer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

1976

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. Paintings.

1977

California State Stanislaus Art Gallery, Turlock.

1978

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. Plywood cutouts and drawings.

1979

Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California. Constructions and drawings.

1980

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

1981

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

1982

Asher/Faure, Los Angeles. Paintings.

1983

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. The Delta Series.

1984

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California. The Point Richmond  Series 1975–83 and Still Lifes. Paintings, drawings, and prints.

Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, California. Paintings and sculpture.

1985

Art Museum of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, California. (cat.)

Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. Figures. Paintings, drawings, etchings, and sculpture.

1951

Twenty-First Annual Exhibition, Springfield Art Museum, Missouri.

1955

Bay Printmakers Society First National Exhibition of Prints, Oakland Art Museum. Special Mention. (cat.)

1956

The Bay Printmakers Society Second National Exhibition, Oakland Art Museum. (cat.)

Twentieth Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition of the San Francisco  Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Art. Purchase prize. (cat.)

Ten Years of American Prints 1947–1956, The Brooklyn Museum. (cat.)

1957

The One Hundred and Fifty-Second Annual Exhibition: Water Colors,  Prints and Drawings, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and  Philadelphia Water Color Club. (cat.)

Bay Printmakers Society Third National Exhibition of Prints, Oakland Art Museum. (cat.)

Annual Watercolor, Drawing and Print Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Art. (cat.)

1958

Bay Printmakers Society Fourth National Exhibition, Oakland Art Museum. (cat.)

Twenty-Second Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Art. (cat.)

1959

Prints by Bay Area Artists, No. 2 (Gordon Cook, Karl Kasten, Beth Van Hoesen), San Francisco Museum of Art.

Bay Printmakers Society Fifth National Exhibition, Oakland Art Museum. (cat.)

1960

Bay Printmakers Society Sixth National Exhibition, Oakland Art Museum. (cat.)

1961

Twenty-Fourth Annual Drawing, Print and Sculpture Exhibition of the  San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Art. Artists’  Council of the S.F.A.A. Purchase Award. (cat.)

Twenty-Fifth Annual Drawing, Print and Sculpture Exhibition of the  San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Art. (cat.)

1962

Six Printmakers of the Bay Area, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic  Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco. (cat.)

The Nude: Graphics by 5 Artists, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.

1963

Eighty-Second Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco Museum of Art. (cat.)

1966

Contemporary Prints from Northern California, Oakland Art Museum’s  Kaiser Gallery. Organized by Oakland Art Museum for the Art in Embassies  Program of the United States Department of State. (cat.)

1972

West Coast 72: Painters & Sculptors, E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California. (cat.)

1973

New Drawings: Elmer Bischoff, Joan Brown, Gordon Cook, George Lloyd, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

1974

Gordon Cook, Thomas Hardy, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco.

1976

Thirty Years of American Printmaking, Brooklyn Museum. (cat.)

1977

The Chosen Object: European and American Still Life, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. (cat.)

Mark Adams, Gordon Cook, Beth Van Hoesen—Work on Paper, Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California.

Invitational American Drawing Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego. (cat.)

1979

Second Annual Invitational Drawing Exhibition, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Central Washington University, Ellensburg. (cat.)

1980

Realism: Paintings of Landscapes, Cityscenes, and Interiors, Walnut Creek Civic Arts Gallery, California. (cat.)

1982

Gordon Cook, Wayne Thiebaud, and David Beck, Allan Stone Gallery, New York.

1983

Figure Drawings: Five San Francisco Artists, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. (cat.)

California Drawings: Drawings by 50 California Artists, Modernism, San Francisco.

1984

New Impressions: Recent Prints by Bay Area Artists, World Print Council, San Francisco.

San Francisco Bay Area Painting, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. (cat.)

Three California Painters (Gordon Cook, Fred Reichman, Corda Eby), Forum Gallery, New York.

1985

The Moses L asky Graphics Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. (cat.)

The Small Press Phenomenon, Glastonbury Gallery, San Francisco.

American Realism: Twentieth-Century Drawings and Watercolors from the  Glenn C. Janss Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. (cat.)

1986

Life Drawing—1980s: Seven San Francisco Artists, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco. (cat.)