The definitive publication on the acclaimed abstract painter, The Big Sweep chronicles the life and work of Ed Clark through historical texts, photographs, letters and ephemera, and underscores the artist’s pivotal place in the development of abstract painting.

From his pioneering use of the push broom as paintbrush to making one of the first shaped canvases, American artist Ed Clark’s impact on the history and development of abstract painting was profound. This book—the definitive publication on Clark—recounts the story of his life and work through reprints of important historical texts by authors including Darby English, Anita Feldman, Geoffrey Jacques, Kellie Jones, April Kingsley, and Corinne Robins; interviews with Clark by Quincy Troupe, Jack Whitten, and Judith Wilson; as well as photographs, letters, and ephemera from the archive of Clark’s estate and his papers at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.