British-American artist Edward Toledano was born to a Jewish family in New York, in the United States on 11 March 1910. He studied at the Yale University School of Fine Art and, later, at the Sir John Cass School of Art in London. During the 1930s he was a stage and screen actor under the name Edward Trevor, moving sometime before 1968, with his Moroccan-French wife, to London, where he became a full-time painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His work was described as 'surrealist' in nature and in 1975 he became the first American-born artist to have a solo exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery. He had three solo exhibitions at Ben Uri in 1977, 1979 and 1981 - the latter a retrospective. He also sat on Ben Uri's Council between 1990–92.
Toledano's final months were photographed by his son, Phillip Toledano, in a project he later titled ‘Days with my Father’. Phillip’s photographs and corresponding blog entries comprise most of the surviving information about Edward, such as his acting career and his move to London. ‘Days with my Father’ turned into an exhibit at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia, with Phillip’s photographs displayed alongside his father’s drawings. Edward Toledano died in New York City, United States on 19 March 2009. His work is held in a number of public collections including Southampton City Art Gallery, Tate, the Smithsonian and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
