Edward Clark (artist)
Encyclopedia
Edward Clark also known as Ed Clark (b. 1926) is an African American
abstract expressionist
painter
and one of the early experimenters with shaped canvas
in the 1950s.
Edward Clark stated:
section of New Orleans, Louisiana
.
in the US Air Corps
, stationed in Guam
.
and Louis Ritman. Under the GI Bill of Rights which financed the higher education of recruits, Clark took residence in Paris
in 1952. He enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
where he studied until 1953.
Edward Clark returned to New York
in 1956. He and Ted Jones (painter) were the first Afro-Americans that actively participated in the New York
Tenth Street galleries
. Clark had his first one man show in 1958 in the Brata Gallery. After the show he soon returned to Paris where he continued to show.
Clark is the first Afro-American painter
credited with working on a shaped canvas
, an innovation that influenced contemporary art
through the 1950s and 1960s. He is also known for his powerful brush stroke achieved with a push broom, large-scale canvases, and his vibrant use of color. He arrives in Paris
each summer and returns to New York City
. He had number of well received exhibitions in both continents.
An exhibit "Beyond Black" featuring Ed Clark, Eugene J. Martin
and John T. Scott
opened at the LSU Museum of Art, Shaw Center for the Arts
, Baton Rouge, LA on Jan. 28-May 8, 2011.
in Detroit, Michigan
; the Studio Museum in Harlem
in New York, New York; the Metropolitan Museum in New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art
in New York, NY; the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles, California
, the Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University
in East Lansing, Michigan
; the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University
in Baltimore, Maryland; the Museum of Solidarity in Titograd, Yugoslavia
; the Museum of Modern Art in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; the Centro de Arte Moderno in Guadalajara, Mexico; and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida
, among others.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and one of the early experimenters with shaped canvas
Shaped canvas
Shaped canvases are paintings that depart from the normal flat, rectangular configuration. Canvases may be shaped by altering their outline, while retaining their flatness. An ancient, traditional example is the tondo, a painting on a round canvas: Raphael, as well as some other Renaissance...
in the 1950s.
Edward Clark stated:
- "..all great artists can only do what they esteem to be right. No matter how it appears at first, it will always be beautiful."
Biography
Edward Clark was born May 6, 1926 in the StoryvilleStoryville
Storyville was the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 through 1917. Locals usually simply referred to the area as The District.-History:...
section of New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Military Service in World War II
Edward Clark served In World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the US Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
, stationed in Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
.
Studies
Ed Clark studied from 1947 to 1951 in The Art Institute of Chicago with Helen GardnerHelen Gardner (art historian)
Helen Gardner was an American art historian and educator. Her Art Through the Ages remains a standard text for American art history classes....
and Louis Ritman. Under the GI Bill of Rights which financed the higher education of recruits, Clark took residence in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1952. He enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. The school was founded in 1902 by the Swiss Martha Stettler , who refused to teach the strict academic rules of painting of the École des Beaux-Arts. It opened the way to the "Art Indépendant"...
where he studied until 1953.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 1951 YMCAYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, Chicago, IL - 1955: Galerie Creuze, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Edward Clark returned to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1956. He and Ted Jones (painter) were the first Afro-Americans that actively participated in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Tenth Street galleries
Tenth street galleries
The Tenth Street galleries was a collective term for the co-operative galleries that operated mainly in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York in the 1950s and 1960s. The galleries were artist run and generally operated on very low budgets, often without any staff. Some artists became members...
. Clark had his first one man show in 1958 in the Brata Gallery. After the show he soon returned to Paris where he continued to show.
- 1966: Galerie Creuze, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 1969: American Embassy, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Clark is the first Afro-American painter
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
credited with working on a shaped canvas
Shaped canvas
Shaped canvases are paintings that depart from the normal flat, rectangular configuration. Canvases may be shaped by altering their outline, while retaining their flatness. An ancient, traditional example is the tondo, a painting on a round canvas: Raphael, as well as some other Renaissance...
, an innovation that influenced contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
through the 1950s and 1960s. He is also known for his powerful brush stroke achieved with a push broom, large-scale canvases, and his vibrant use of color. He arrives in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
each summer and returns to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He had number of well received exhibitions in both continents.
- 1971: Donald JuddDonald JuddDonald Clarence Judd was an American artist associated with minimalism . In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy...
's LoftLoftA loft can be an upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Alternatively, a loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial...
, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - 1972: Lehman CollegeLehman CollegeLehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
, New York, NY; 141 Prince Street Gallery, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; Western Michigan UniversityWestern Michigan UniversityWestern Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
, Kalamazoo, MI - 1974: South Houston, Gallery, NYC
- 1975: James Yu Gallery, NYC
- 1976: Sullivant Gallery, Ohio State UniversityOhio State UniversityThe Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, Columbus, OH - 1981: Citicorp CenterCitigroup CenterThe Citigroup Center is one of the ten tallest skyscrapers in New York City, United States, located at 53rd Street between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan...
, NYC - 1986: "Paris to New York, 1966-1986," G.R.N'Namdi Gallery, Birmingham, MI
- 1989: Galerie Kasser-Bohbot, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - 1990: FIAC, Grand Palais, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; G.R.N'Namdi Gallery, Birmingham, MI
An exhibit "Beyond Black" featuring Ed Clark, Eugene J. Martin
Eugene J. Martin
Eugene James Martin was a prolific African American visual artist.-Art:Eugene J...
and John T. Scott
John T. Scott
John T. Scott was an African American sculptor, painter, printmaker and collagist. He was awarded a Bachelor of arts degree from Xavier University in New Orleans and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan...
opened at the LSU Museum of Art, Shaw Center for the Arts
Shaw Center for the Arts
The Shaw Center for the Arts is a 125,000 square foot performing art venue, fine arts museum, and education center located at 100 Lafayette Street in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It opened in 2005...
, Baton Rouge, LA on Jan. 28-May 8, 2011.
Museums and Collections
Ed Clark’s paintings are included in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago; the Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
; the Studio Museum in Harlem
Studio Museum in Harlem
The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American contemporary art museum in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, New York. It was founded in 1968 as the first such museum in the U.S. devoted to the art of African-Americans, specializing in 19th and 20th century work as well work of artists of...
in New York, New York; the Metropolitan Museum in New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York, NY; the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
in East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
; the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
in Baltimore, Maryland; the Museum of Solidarity in Titograd, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
; the Museum of Modern Art in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; the Centro de Arte Moderno in Guadalajara, Mexico; and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
, among others.
Books
- Kenkeleba Gallery (New York, N.Y.), The search for freedom : African American abstract painting 1945-1975 : May 19-July 14, 1991, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York.
- Asake Bomani and Belvie Rooks, ‘’The Paris connections : African American artists in Paris’’ ISBN 0936609257
- Marika herskovic, American abstract expressionism of the 1950s : an illustrated survey : with artists' statements, artwork and biographies ISBN 0967799414. p. 78-81