Our new series ‘Icons’ presents extraordinary masterpieces from celebrated 20th-Century artists and groundbreaking creations direct from the studios of leading contemporary artists.

A remarkable example of Ed Clark’s late work, ‘Green & Yellow-White’ (2004) demonstrates the artist’s singular approach to abstraction, materiality and color. In this monumental painting, wide swathes of paint were applied with confidence, resulting in a dazzling choreography of sea glass green, sunny yellow, crisp white and crimson red.

In 1956, Clark pioneered what would become his signature painting technique. Using a wide push broom, he guided acrylic paint across a canvas placed flat on the floor—a method he would come to call ‘the big sweep.’

In ‘Green & Yellow-White,’ Clark combined his ‘big sweeps’ with deliberately dripped paint and areas of negative space. In the early 2000s, Clark began to pour or drip paint on his canvases from above, allowing chance and gravity to introduce complex elements to his compositions.

Over the course of his seven-decade-long career, Clark pushed the very limits of painting, sweeping his medium into atmospheric, emotive and exuberant visual fields.

A solo exhibition of works by the artist is currently on view at Turner Contemporary in Margate, UK, until 1 September 2024.