Carroll Cloar estate

b. Earl, AR, 1913; d. Memphis, TN, 1993
I believe that I think like I write, and when I have conceived of a good title I am more stimulated than I would have been by a purely visual idea. I am more conscious of form and color than I used to be, but still prefer ideas that can also be expressed in words. Many times when my backlog of ideas is getting low, I read the dictionary. Quite often one word can evoke images that lead to a painting.
Burn-Out
Burn-Out

Carroll Cloar is recognized nationally for his paintings and prints of life in the American South. Through a distinctive approach to narrative realism, Cloar’s works engage with the regionalism of Grant Wood, the realism of Edward Hopper, and the mythical whimsy of Henri Rousseau. Cloar was born on a farm in Eastern Arkansas, where a complicated relationship with his family began and continued to compel him creatively. He planned to work as a comic strip illustrator, yet became more interested in lithography and painting after studying at the Art Students League in New York. He drew inspiration from his home and his life in the South, as well his memories and dreams, family stories and photographs, newspapers, memorabilia and American folklore. Throughout extensive cross-country travel, and time spent in Mexico and in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he continued to make art about the South. While he first gained national attention for his work in exhibitions in New York, he moved back to Memphis in 1955 to fully engage his practice and infatuation with his Southern identity. All along Cloar’s lifelong exploration of memory and place, he built new idyllic versions of his past and instilled his viewers with a similar vision.

Born in 1913 in Earle, Arkansas, Carroll Cloar studied at the Memphis Academy of Art and Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) and at the Art Students League of New York. His work has been the subject of many exhibitions and publications, and he received many commissions and awards throughout his career. He is featured in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville, and the Whitney Museum of Art among others.

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Burn-Out
Burn-Out
Sunday Morning
Sunday Morning
Cotter, Saturday Night
Cotter, Saturday Night
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
Story Told by My Mother, Tracing
Story Told by My Mother, Tracing
Alien Child, Study
Alien Child, Study
Quilts, Study
Quilts, Study
The Tryst, Study
The Tryst, Study
The Artist, Study
The Artist, Study
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
Children on the Tracks, Study
Children on the Tracks, Study
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
The Law Office, Study
The Law Office, Study
Musical Family, Study
Musical Family, Study
Members of the Church, Study
Members of the Church, Study
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
The Ingredients
The Ingredients
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Father
Portrait of my Father
Nostalgia
Nostalgia
Old Letters
Old Letters
 Preacher of the Holiness
Preacher of the Holiness
Bill Henry's Residence
Bill Henry's Residence
Life Story (Jack David)
Life Story (Jack David)
Drunk and Disorderly and Disturbing the Peace
Drunk and Disorderly and Disturbing the Peace
Hubert Beard
Hubert Beard
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
Burn-Out
Burn-Out
tempera on masonite, 17x23
1956
Sunday Morning
Sunday Morning
acylic on masonite, 28x40
1969
Cotter, Saturday Night
Cotter, Saturday Night
acrylic on masonite, 23x34
1977
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
casein tempera on masonite, 26x40
1964
Story Told by My Mother, Tracing
Story Told by My Mother, Tracing
graphite on paper, 26.5x40
1955
Alien Child, Study
Alien Child, Study
graphite on vellum, 24.75x31.75
1955
Quilts, Study
Quilts, Study
graphite on vellum, 28x40
1963
The Tryst, Study
The Tryst, Study
graphite on vellum, 24x34
1963
The Artist, Study
The Artist, Study
graphite on vellum, 24x34
1964
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
graphite and colored pencil on vellum, 23x34
1971
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
graphite on vellum, 23x34
1973
Children on the Tracks, Study
Children on the Tracks, Study
graphite on vellum, 23.25x34
1973
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
graphite on paper, 28x40
1976
The Law Office, Study
The Law Office, Study
graphite on vellum, 23x34
1978
Musical Family, Study
Musical Family, Study
graphite on paper, 23x34.75
1982
Members of the Church, Study
Members of the Church, Study
graphite on paper, 23x34
1984
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
graphite on paper, 28.5x39.75
1988
The Ingredients
The Ingredients
lithograph, 14x10
1940
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Mother
lithograph, 15x10
1939
Portrait of my Father
Portrait of my Father
lithograph, 12x11
1939
Nostalgia
Nostalgia
lithograph, 12.75x9.25
1940
Old Letters
Old Letters
lithograph, 14x10.75
1940
 Preacher of the Holiness
Preacher of the Holiness
lithograph, 12.5x8.5
1940
Bill Henry's Residence
Bill Henry's Residence
lithograph, 10x13.5
1939
Life Story (Jack David)
Life Story (Jack David)
lithograph, 14.75x11.5
1939
Drunk and Disorderly and Disturbing the Peace
Drunk and Disorderly and Disturbing the Peace
lithograph, 10x8
1941
Hubert Beard
Hubert Beard
lithograph, 13.75x10.25
1947
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Brother Hinson and his Friends
lithograph, 15.5x9.25
1947
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
house paint on artist board, 9.75x5
c. 1960
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
watercolor & house paint on artist board, 15x20
c. 1965

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