Natalie Edgar American, b. 1932
Natalie Edgar is an abstract expressionist painter, a former critic for Artnews, and a key writer and historian on the birth and development of abstract expressionism.
Her lively, and often large, abstractions typically include a "mass of layered colors—with multiple glazes, opacities, broad areas laid down in washes" while "using dynamic strokes and contrasting tones that... juxtapose color with areas of vacant canvas."
Growing up in New York City, Edgar was exposed to a profusion of art, a perfect environment for shaping the amazing and raw talent that she possesses. In 1950, Natalie started studying art at Brooklyn College, from which she graduated in 1954. She learned from some of the most prominent artists and painters of the time, including Ad Reinhardt and Mark Rothko. Moving in this kind of circle of artists, Edgar learned that the point of art is to present ideas not the art-making process. Art should be truthful and honest.
She further developed her artistic expression while attending Meyer Schapiro classes. From 1960-1973 Edgar wrote for ArtNews, working for Tom Hess. Gaining exposure to a variety of artists’ studios through visits, she found her writing experience with ArtNews to be the ultimate education. It was through writing that Edgar learned about painting and how to understand the burgeoning field of Abstract Expressionism. Natalie Edgar met and fell in love with Philip Pavia, a renowned sculptor known as one of the original members who set up The Club, a group which gathered artists around the ideas and philosophies behind art. Some of the leading artists of the New York art scene, such as Bill and Elaine de Kooning, Ibram Lassaw, Franz Kline, and Mercedes Matter, another founding member, were frequent visitors of The Club. Since 1980, the couple started their journey around Italy, eventually discovering Pietrasanta, a small town in Tuscany. They decided to spend every summer there. The breathtaking scenery became Natalie’s second studio, and yet another “school” where she discovered color, volume and rhythm.
From 1966 until 1988, Edgar held the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor at Queens College, CUNY, teaching Art History. Subsequently, she moved to the New School of Social Research, where she taught Painting until 1994. Among many awards, she was a recipient of Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2010 and 2015, The Judith Rothschild Grant in 2006 and 2009 and the Mies and Hans Hofmann Grant in 2007. An eminent New York artist, Natalie has exhibited her works extensively in her native city, participating in both solo and group exhibitions.
