Balcomb Greene was born in Millville, New York in 1904. He received his BA degree at Syracuse University, studied at Columbia University and there after taught at Dartmouth College. In 1931 he went to Paris and studied art at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. After his return he then realized his true passion was in painting.
He worked for a non-profit organization, “The Emily Francis Contemporary Gallery. He then became the first president of the Artist Union and then became the first chairman of the American Abstract Artists.
Greene was employed by the New York mural division and completed abstract murals for the Williamsburg Houses. Greene taught at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, while still pursuing his career as an artist.
Greene worked alone to pursue his solitary style but at the same time, he was familiar with the Abstract Expressionist movement. He wrote in Art News, "The Fourth Illusions, or Hunger for Genius"[8] "A picture is painted of modern art that arranges all participants into movements, like well-behaved Englishmen in clubs." In spite of his conviction, he agreed to participate in the invitational New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals organized by the New York Schoo artists in 1954, 1955 and 1957.[9] In 1972 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member. Balcomb Greene died November 12, 1990, in Montauk Point, New York.