Charles Strong (1938-2013)

Charles Strong, who was born in Greeley, Colorado on Christmas Day in 1938, was one of the youngest artists of the San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism. He was a colleague of vanguard artists such as Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, Jack Jefferson, Nathan Oliveira, and Frank Lobdell.

In 1959, he enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. His work was greatly influenced by Clyfford Still, whom he met while Still was teaching as a guest instructor at the University of Colorado in 1960.

In the late 1960s, Strong taught at San Francisco State University. In 1970, he joined the faculty of the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, CA, where he founded the Wiegand Gallery and curated exhibitions until the 1990s. He was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982.

By 1989, he had returned to Ranchos de Taos, NM - an area he visited frequently with his family growing up. He was actively involved in the Taos art community until his death in 2013.

Strong’s work has been widely exhibited, particularly in the American west, and is held in numerous public and private collections throughout the United States.