Edo Kovačević was born 16 November 1906 in Gospić, then in Austria-Hungary, now in Croatia In 1909, the family moved to Zagreb.

In 1926, Kovačević enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb, graduating in 1930 in the class of Vladimir Becić. In 1928, a two-week stay in Paris with a group of fellow students opened up new horizons for him, including an encounter with Krsto Hegedušić and Leo Junek, also in Paris at the time. Back in Zagreb, he kept in contact with these founders of the Earth Group (Grupa Zemlja), whose ideological views were bringing current social problems and the grim reality of rural life into contemporary art. Immediately following his graduation, Kovačević received a grant from the state government (Sava Banovina) and spent a year (1930/31) in Paris studying fresco painting. During this year, Kovačević did not get involved in painterly or bohemian circles, but joined the international left-wing group around Le Monde, which held meetings and lectures about modern art. His visits to the studio of Amédée Ozenfant, the founder of Purism, made a strong impression on him, along with the works of Giotto, Fra Angelico and Velasquez.

On his return to Zagreb, Kovačević joined the Earth Group in 1932, exhibiting with them at their 4th Exhibition at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. He was a member of the group until 1935.

Kovačević created his first set designs in 1934 for the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. For nearly 60 years, he designed theatrical sets for the National Theatre, and the Drama Theatre in Zagreb, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Zagreb Puppet Theatre, and his work appeared in Ljubljana and Prague. During that time, he also organized over a hundred exhibitions of paintings.

Between 1936 and 1940 Kovačević exhibited with the Group of Croatian Artists. His work on exhibition set-up gave him opportunities to travel around Europe, especially Paris, and to the United States (1939). After the Second World War, Kovačević travelled extensively around Europe, to Geneva, Zurich and Venice, and Paris several times (1954, 1956 and 1958).

Kovačević’s first solo exhibition was held in 1955 at the French Institute in Zagreb. In 1964, the Gallery of Contemporary Art, Zagreb held a retrospective exhibit of his work, and in 1978, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb held a new retrospective exhibit.

During the 1960s, Kovačević experimented with printing and lithography, in which he came close to abstraction in his simplified designs. He began to use more symbolism in his work, especially in floral compositions. And this was the time of his “Zagreb Roofs” cycle, in which Kovačević created rich, dynamic patterns based on the network of old roofs as seen from the upper town of the city. One of the high points of the series is the tapestry “Roofs”, created in 1969, into which all his earlier ideas were woven using a rich, harmonious blend of colours. The roofs series stands as one of his most important works, dedicated to the city where he spent almost his entire life.

In 1977, Edo Kovačević was elected a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and in 1981, he received the Vladimir Nazor Award for lifetime achievement in the arts.