Cleve Gray
American, 1918 - 2004
Cleve Gray, originally Cleve Ginsburg, was born in 1918 in New York City, where he began his artistic journey. His early education at the Ethical Culture School and mentorship under Antonia Nell, a student of George Bellows, laid the foundation for his artistic skills. Later, at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, he studied under Bartlett Hayes, earning the Samuel F.B. Morse Prize for most promising art student.
Graduating from Princeton University in 1940 with a degree in Art and Archeology, Gray exhibited his landscapes and still lifes in Tucson, Arizona, before joining the U.S. Army during World War II. His wartime experiences, including sketching destruction and meeting Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso after the liberation of Paris, deeply influenced his artistic perspective.
Post-war, Gray continued his art studies in Paris under French artists Jacques Villon and Andre Lhote. Returning to the U.S. in 1946, he exhibited at Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris and had his first solo show at the Jacques Seligmann Gallery in New York in 1947. Settling in Warren, Connecticut, in 1949, he married author Francine du Plessix in 1957, and they both maintained studios on their property.
In the 1960s, Gray, influenced by his friendship with Barnett Newman, developed his distinctive style, characterized by fields of color created through pouring, staining, and sponging, embellished with gestural marks. This innovative approach marked the next 42 years of his prolific career.
Gray's artworks are held in prestigious collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Notably, a retrospective curated by art critic Karin Wilkin was held at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in 2009, honoring Cleve Gray's significant contributions to the art world.
Graduating from Princeton University in 1940 with a degree in Art and Archeology, Gray exhibited his landscapes and still lifes in Tucson, Arizona, before joining the U.S. Army during World War II. His wartime experiences, including sketching destruction and meeting Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso after the liberation of Paris, deeply influenced his artistic perspective.
Post-war, Gray continued his art studies in Paris under French artists Jacques Villon and Andre Lhote. Returning to the U.S. in 1946, he exhibited at Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris and had his first solo show at the Jacques Seligmann Gallery in New York in 1947. Settling in Warren, Connecticut, in 1949, he married author Francine du Plessix in 1957, and they both maintained studios on their property.
In the 1960s, Gray, influenced by his friendship with Barnett Newman, developed his distinctive style, characterized by fields of color created through pouring, staining, and sponging, embellished with gestural marks. This innovative approach marked the next 42 years of his prolific career.
Gray's artworks are held in prestigious collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Notably, a retrospective curated by art critic Karin Wilkin was held at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in 2009, honoring Cleve Gray's significant contributions to the art world.
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