Rex Ashlock (b. 1918, Spokane, Washington) developed a distinct painterly language shaped by both West Coast figuration and the emergence of Abstract Expressionism. He began painting in earnest after relocating to California in the late 1930s, studying at the California School of Fine Arts and later at the University of California, Berkeley, where David Park encouraged a more expressive and intuitive approach to form.
Ashlock’s early work reflects his time in the Bay Area, with numerous plein-air watercolors and oil paintings that gradually move toward abstraction. His “Bridges” series, in particular, signals this transition—distilling structure and atmosphere into increasingly simplified, gestural compositions.
In 1957, Ashlock moved to New York, where exposure to leading figures of Abstract Expressionism—including Adolph Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline—prompted a deeper engagement with non-representational painting. Works from this period often explore expansive fields of a single color, animated by subtle tonal shifts and surface variation.