Edgar Negret was born in Popayan, Colombia where he attended the School of Fine Arts in Cali, Colombia.

Initially he worked in stone in styles reminiscent of European modernists like Jean Arp and Constantin Brancusi, but by the early 1950s, he began working in metal in constructivist tradition.

In 1955, his art was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. In 1963, he won the Salon de Artistas Colombianos, and therein became one of the most prominent Colombian sculptors of the 20th century.

In 1968, he was awarded the David E. Bright Sculpture Prize, at the Thirty-fourth Venice Biennial.

In 1985, the Museum Negret opened. In 2010, he was awarded Grado de Oficial by order of the Congress of Colombia.
Negret died, on his 92nd birthday, in Bogota, Colombia.

Edgar Negret, a Colombian artist who flourished in the mid-20th century, is known for his abstract geometric sculptures made primarily of iron and aluminum. He believed in the magical quality of mechanical forms devoid of function and often combined images of industrial structures with those found in nature. Alongside Hugo Martínez González and Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, he introduced abstract and geometric sculpture in Colombia. Negret's works are characterized by geometric elements, compositional rigor, and a construction concept evident in titles like "Temple." He won prestigious awards in Colombian art exhibitions and held retrospectives in Bogota. In 2010, he was posthumously awarded the Grand Order of the Ministry of Culture by the National Government of Colombia.