Edward H. Betts
Edward Howard Betts ( August 4, 1920 – May 17, 2008 ) was an American painter, collagist, author, and teacher. He was known for his abstract paintings which he developed using an improvisational method. He was also an accomplished painter of realistic watercolors. Betts published three instructional books on painting and taught at the University of Illinois. Biography Edward Howard Betts was born August 4, 1920, in Yonkers, New York to Harrison and Mildred ( née Waterbury ) Betts. In 1935, when he was fifteen years old, Betts began taking summer classes at the Art Students League where he studied with George Bridgman, among others. He obtained a degree in art history from Yale University in 1942 and enlisted in the United States Army that same year. After World War II, he was a full time student at the Art Students League from 1946 to 1948. Betts then entered the University of Illinois where he received an M. F. A. degree in 1952. In 1949 Betts married fellow artist Jane Burke who he had met at the Art Students League. Jane Betts died in 1984. Betts taught drawing, composition, and painting at the University of Illinois for 35 years until