1911 . . . Born April 26 in New York City
1927 . . . June, graduates from Evander Childs High School in the Bronx, New York; begins working for the New York Stock Exchange as a page boy; begins studies at the City College of New York during evening sessions
1930 . . . Marries Alyse Abrams and purchases his first camera
1932 . . . Receives Bachelor of Social Science degree from the City College of New York
1932-33 . . . Attends the Graduate School of Business Administration at Columbia University
1933-34 . . . Enrolls in the graduate program in Political Science at Columbia University
1934 . . . Ends marriage to Alyse
1935 . . . Employed as a social worker at the New York City Home Relief Bureau
1936-42 . . . Employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to process artists' applications and as a photographer
1938-39 . . . President of the Photo League
1939-42 . . . Shares an apartment with Aaron Siskind in New York
1942-45 . . . Serves in the United States Army Air Force during World War II as a photography instructor
1945 . . . Moves to Los Angeles; begins working as a freelance photographer for various magazines, including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar
1946 . . . Solo exhibition at the American Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles
1947 . . . Briefly lives in San Francisco; Siskind visits him
1948 . . . Publishes The San Francisco Book (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.) with Herb Caen; solo exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco
1949 . . . Siskind visits him in Los Angeles
1950 . . . Publication of The Los Angeles Book (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.) with Lee Shippey
1952 . . . Edward Steichen acquires nineteen Yavno prints for The Museum of Modern Art, New York
1953 . . . Awarded John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, after being recommended by Edward Weston and Steichen
1954 and 55 . . . Awarded Art Directors Club Award, New York
1954-75 . . . Owns and operates a commercial photography studio in Los Angeles
1962 . . . Publication of The Story of Wine in California (Berkeley: University of California Press) with text by M.F.K. Fisher
1967 . . . Travels to Europe
1968 . . . Publication of Natzler Ceramics (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
1972-73 . . . Studies cinematography, University of California at Los Angeles, Graduate Division of Theater Arts
1975 . . . Travels to Death Valley, California; begins to make personal, artistic photographs
1976 . . . Solo exhibition at the G. Ray Hawkins Gallery in Los Angeles
1977 . . . Publication of Portfolio One: Image as Poem (Los Angeles) with text by Ben Maddow; and Silver See (Los Angeles) a group portfolio with text by Victor Landweber; solo exhibition at Halsted Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan
1978 . . . Solo exhibition at G. Ray Hawkins Gallery in Los Angeles; and at the Gallery for Photographic Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana
1979 . . . Travels to Israel and Egypt funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant; solo exhibition at the Gallery for Photographic Arts in North Olmstead, Ohio; and at Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery in New York
1980 . . . Solo exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco; and at the Equivalents Gallery in Seattle, Washington and G. Ray Hawkins Gallery in Los Angeles
1981 . . . October to December, travels to Mexico; Publication of The Photography of Max Yavno (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press) with text by Ben Maddow; retrospective exhibition at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery; exhibition at the Galería Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Cuanhtémoc, Mexico
1982 . . . Travels to Morocco
1985 . . . Dies March 4 in Los Angeles
1992 . . . Archive acquired by the Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona
[Information from The Photography of Max Yavno, with text by Ben Maddow (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981).]
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This page last updated June 29, 1999.
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