Lawrence Calcagno (1913–1993) was an American abstract expressionist painter known for his luminous, landscape-inspired abstractions. Born in San Francisco to Italian immigrant parents, he spent much of his youth on a ranch in the Santa Lucia Mountains, an environment that deeply influenced his visual language. After serving in the Merchant Marines and later in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Calcagno used the G.I. Bill to study at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute), where he was mentored by Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko. He continued his studies in Paris and Florence before launching a significant exhibition career.

In 1955, New York gallerist Martha Jackson mounted Calcagno’s first solo show, followed by three more in subsequent years. Over his career, he held 41 solo exhibitions and participated in international shows across Europe and Latin America. His work is held in major institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. An active educator, Calcagno taught at New York University, Carnegie Mellon University (as Andrew Mellon Professor of Painting), and several other universities, leaving a lasting imprint on both his students and American postwar abstraction.