The gallery was founded in 1966 by Daniel Templon, who was then only 21. It first opened rue Bonaparte, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, before moving in 1972 to its current location, rue Beaubourg, in the Marais, close to the Pompidou Center, which opened in 1977. Daniel Templon first gained recognition by exhibiting conceptual and minimal artists such as Martin Barré, Christian Boltanski, Donald Judd, Joseph Kosuth, Richard Serra. In the seventies and eighties, Daniel Templon was one of the pioneers of the contemporary art and introduced many important American artists to the French public: Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol. The gallery quickly became one of the references in contemporary art in France. In 1972, Daniel Templon and Catherine Millet co-founded the monthly art magazine ART PRESS.

Over the years, many artists now part of art history have exhibited with the gallery. In chronological order : Martin Barré, Christian Boltanski, Joseph Kosuth, Ben, Arman, César, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Kenneth Noland, Robert Morris, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella, Olivier Mosset, Art & Language, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Karel Appel, Willem de Kooning, Helmut Newton, Francesco Clemente, Jörg Immendorff, Julian Schnabel, Lawrence Weiner, Daniel Buren, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Salle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Rauschenberg, Joel Shapiro, Keith Haring, Peter Halley, James Rosenquist, Robert Longo, Paul Rebeyrolle, Georg Baselitz, Raymond Hains, Eric Fischl, Juan Uslé, Jaume Plensa, George Condo, Ross Bleckner, Chapman brothers, Jim Dine, Richard Long, William Eggleston, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Yayoi Kusama, Richard Deacon, Larry Bell, Guillermo Kuitca, Anthony Caro, Pierre et Gilles.

Today TEMPLON represents a group of international artists. The program promotes a dialogue between generations: established artists, international mid-career artists, and the experiences of younger artists. The gallery also provides curatorial expertise and assistance in the mounting of exhibitions by its artists in museums or international exhibitions. Many of its artists have participated in international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, Documenta, the Whitney Biennale etc.
TEMPLON is involved in the production of its artists and is committed to a strong editorial policy with the publication of exhibition catalogues. It has four spaces: two exhibition spaces in Paris (30 rue Beaubourg and 28 rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare), one in Brussels, Belgium and one in New York (Chelsea). The gallery participates in art fairs worldwide, including FIAC since 1974 and ART BASEL since 1978.