Edward Corbett

Edward Corbett (1919-1971) was born in Chicago and grew up in Texas, Arizona, the Philippines, and Ohio. He attended the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, studying with artists such as Douglas MacAgy, Clay Spohn, Clifford Still, and Mark Rothko. After a brief stint with the Army, Corbett returned to San Francisco to paint and teach at the School of Fine Arts. In 1952 he was recognized as one of fifteen American artists chosen for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the following years, his paintings — dark, abstract yet expressive landscapes — were exhibited throughout New York City. Corbett joined the faculty of Mount Holyoke College in 1953 and was a visiting artist at the University of Minnesota, American University in Washington, University of California Santa Barbara and the Northwood Institute in Cedar Hill, Texas. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1968. In 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama selected Corbett’s painting Washington, D.C. November 1963 III to be displayed at the first residence.