Ben Culwell

Ben Culwell was a figure within the first generation of Abstract Expressionism, a movement which began in the early 1940s and became a dominant style in American painting from the late 1940’s into the 1950s. Culwell, whose career was based in Texas, continued to develop his body of Abstract Expressionist paintings into the later 20th century.

Among the pioneering Abstract Expressionists, Culwell became, like Clyfford Still, one of the least associated with the New York scene. Only two other artists from Texas—Forrest Bess and Joseph Glasco—are associated with the historical development of Abstract Expressionism.