Early Life and Artistic Beginnings Norman Wilfred Lewis, born in Harlem, New York City, in 1909, emerged as a pivotal figure in the American art landscape of the mid-20th century. His journey to becoming an Abstract Expressionist was far from conventional, rooted instead in the social realities and vibrant cultural tapestry of his upbringing. Raised on Lenox Avenue between 7th and 8th Avenues, Lewis’s early life was shaped by parents who had immigrated from Bermuda—his father a fisherman turned dock foreman, his mother a baker and later a domestic worker. While his older brother found acclai…