A pioneer of the New York School, the abstract paintings of Ed Clark stand as testimonies of true originality. Born in New Orleans, LA in 1926, Clark is credited as the first American artist with exhibiting a shaped canvas. His experimentations with pure color, abstract form, and breaking the boundaries of what constitutes a paintbrush by use of his innovative push-broom technique have placed him as a premier source for abstract inspiration whose influence continues to reverberate today.

Clark studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and L’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and is the recipient of multiple awards including the Art Institute of Chicago’s Legends and Legacy Award (2013), Rush Philanthropic Arts’ Art for Life Honored Artist Award (2000), the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Painters and Sculptors Grant (1998), the United States
Congressional Achievement Award (1994), the National Endowment for the Arts’ Master Award (1972), and Musée des Arts Décoratifs’ Prix d’Othon Friesz (1955). The artist’s work is included in the permanent collections of several important cultural institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Detroit Institute of the Arts; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, among others. Ed Clark passed away on October 19, 2019 at the age of 93 in Detroit, Michigan.