Chronology
| 1911 | Born on February 26 in Kawasaki as eldest son of cartoonist Ippei Okamoto and poetess and novelist Kanoko. |
| 1929 | Enters the oil painting department of the Tokyo Fine Arts School. Accompanies his parents to Europe in December, and starts living in Paris in January of the following year. |
| 1932 | Electrified by paintings of Picasso into pursuing abstract arts. |
| 1933 | Becomes a member of the Abstraction-Creation group to associate with avant-garde artists until 1937, before he begins to pursue more concrete expression. |
| 1938 | Studies ethnology under Professor Marcel Mauss at the University of Paris. Exhibits Wounded Arm at the International Surrealist Exhibition in Paris. |
| 1939 | Associates with Georges Bataille and other thinkers around this time. His mother Kanoko dies at the age of 49. |
| 1940 | Returns to Japan following the German invasion of France. |
| 1941 | Exhibits works produced while staying in Europe to the 28th Nika Exhibition held by Nika-kai(a group of anti-mainstream artists), and receives the Nika Prize. |
| 1942 | Sent to the Chinese front as a private and returns to Tokyo in 1946 to find all his works burned in an air raid. |
| 1947 | Begins to emphasize Taikyoku-ism (polarism) as the core of his artistic principle. |
| 1948 | Establishes Yoru-no-kai (the Night Society) with critic Kiyoteru Hanada and others to explore various themes to integrate avant-garde art and literature. His father Ippei dies at the age of 62. |
| 1949 | Submits Heavy Industry to the 34th Nika Exhibition, and Law of the jungle to the 35th exhibition the following year. |
| 1952 | Publishes Thoughts on Jomon Earthenware in an art magazine Mizue, highlighting the beauty of the primitive artifacts in the prehistoric Jomon period. |
| 1954 | Submits work to the 27th Venice Biennale. Moves the studio to Aoyama and establishes the Gendai Geijutsu Kenkyusyo (Institute of Esthetic Research). Publishes Today’s Art, which becomes a best-seller. |
| 1956 | Executes ceramic relief murals for the old Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. |
| 1970 | Serves as Theme Producer of the Expo ’70 in Osaka, the first worlds’ fair held in Asia, and builds the Tower of the Sun in the Symbol Zone. |
| 1981 | Holds a solo exhibition at the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art. Appears in commercial, popularizing the phrase:"Art is explosion." |
| 1991 | "Taro Okamoto-Outstanding Talent from Kawasaki" exhibition held at the Kawasaki City Museum. Donates principal works to Kawasaki City in December. |
| 1993 | Becomes an honorary citizen of Kawasaki City. |
| 1996 | Dies of acute respiratory dysfunction on January 7. |
《Wounded Arm》 1941
making “law of the jungle”(1950)
Jomon pottery（photo by Taro Okamoto, 1956）
TV commercial(HITACHI maxell, 1981)