Edgar Ewing

Edgar Louis Ewing (1913 - 2006) was born and raised in Nebraska. Upon graduating high school moved to Chicago to pursue his art training and began attending the University of Chicago, where he studied under Boris Ansfels. He was a talented artist and was soon given an art fellowship to study in Europe after graduating in 1935. 

Ewing briefly returned to Chicago where he became a faculty member of the Art Institute of Chicago. The University of Chicago was his first time working as a professor of art. He also taught at Michigan University and  Oregon. With the onset of World War II, Ewing joined the the Corps of Engineers and served in Southeast Asia, China, Burma, India Theatre, the Philippines, and Japan. 

Ewing eventually moved to California where he began teaching at the University of Southern California, where he continued working as an active artist. Ewing exhibited his work, won awards and influenced many students. He taught alongside artist Francis De Erdely and many other important California modernists of the mid-centry. While in Los Angeles he exhibited widely and Ewing’s proficiency with composition and color gained acclaim in the community. Ewing was known for his experiments with modernism -- including broken planes of space and the use of black. 

After 11 years at the University of Southern California, Ewing went on a sabbatical to rediscover Europe where he was especially intrigued by the history of Greece and Rome (which influenced and important a series of paintings on the subject.)

His work is held in the collections of the San Diego Museum of Art, CA; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE; Uinta County Museum, Evanston, WY; USC Fisher Gallery, Los Angeles.