Early Life and Artistic Foundations Cleve Gray, born Cleve Ginsberg in New York City on September 22, 1918, embarked on a journey that would establish him as a significant figure within the landscape of American Abstract Expressionism. A pivotal moment arrived in 1936 when the family formally changed their name to Gray—a symbolic shift perhaps foreshadowing the artist’s own evolving identity and aesthetic direction. His early exposure to art was nurtured through formal training at the Ethical Culture School, followed by studies with Antonia Nell, a student of George Bellows, instilling in hi…