Attributed to Charles Green Shaw, no coa, private collection, medium: oil, measurements: 24"hx18"w framed, mint condition Biography: Charles Green Shaw was an American painter, poet, writer, and illustrator. He was a key figure in early American abstract art. Shaw was born in New York City to Eva (née Morris) and Charles Green Shaw, a merchant.This was a wealthy family connected to the F. W. Woolworth Company fortune.However, Shaw was orphaned at a young age—his mother died when he was just three. As a result, he and his twin brother were raised by their uncle, Frank D. Shaw. He grew up spending summers in Newport, Rhode Island and Christmas at Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt's balls.He began drawing when he was six; he wrote and illustrated his first book, The Costumes of Nations, when he was nine.Shaw attended the Friends Seminary and Berkley School. He graduated from Yale University in 1914.While at Yale, he befriended Cole Porter, joined St. Anthony Hall, and contributed artwork to campus humor magazine, The Yale Record. He studied architecture at Columbia University from 1914 to 1915.Shaw was a Lieutenant in World War I, first receiving an assignment as a supply officer stationed in England.Then, he was assigned to the Army Air Force at Kelly Airfield in Texas. Over the course of eighteen months in the service, he never saw active duty.After the war, Shaw tried to follow the business model set by his family, and soon found he was ill-suited for selling real estate in New York City. As an artist, Shaw was "essentially self-taught." In 1927, he enrolled in Thomas Hart Benton's class at the Art Students League of New York. He also studied privately with George Luks from 1926 to 1928. In 1929, he lived in Paris for a month, visiting museums and meeting artists. He found a great deal of inspiration in London, going to the park and sketching every day. Shaw "considered himself a painter" when he returned to New York City in 1932.In 1933, he started a series of works called Plastic Polygon, working on this series of abstracted architectural paintings for about seven years.[6][3] Plastic Polygon included "architectural forms of the New York City skyline" and helped establish his reputation. Shaw called his style of modern art "concretionist" because he painted "concrete objects" rather than abstractions.In 1934, Shaw had a solo exhibition at Valentine Gallery in New York City. From May to October 1935, he also had a show at Gallery of Living Art that was organized by Albert Gallatin.This was the first one-man show at the Gallery of Living Art; Gallatin said he broke his own rule because "Mr. Shaw is doing the most important abstract painting in America today." The next year, Gallatin curated a show at Reinhardt Gallery called American Concretionists, which included Shaw's works and those of others.Also in 1936, Shaw was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and participated in their first annual exhibition.This group was established "at a time when abstract art was met with strong critical resistance," and many such artists struggled to find galleries willing to display their work.