Carroll Cloar (January 18, 1913 – April 10, 1993) was a nationally known 20th-century painter born in Earle, Arkansas, who focused his work on

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

views of

Southern U.S. The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

themes and on poetically portraying childhood memories of natural scenery, buildings, and people, often working from old photographs found in his family albums. Guy Northrop, in his introduction on page 24 to ''Hostile Butterflies and Other Paintings by Carroll Cloar'' (1977), quoted Cloar describing his images as "American faces, timeless dress and timeless customs ... the last of old America that isn't long for this earth." His ''Panther Bourne'' work depicted a surreal, Southern-mythic nature scene. Cloar employed

pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

in his painting "Waiting up for Lettie," creating over 800 works in his lifetime. He moved to Memphis in 1930, attending Southwestern at Memphis (later known as Rhodes College) as an English major. His recurrent themes of a "homecoming," implying that the essential beauty of a locale is best understood by one who has left a beloved place behind and then returned, are echoed in his own personal experience of traveling abroad for years and then returning to the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. He began his travels in Europe after college, before returning to Memphis to study at Memphis College of Art. He studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

from 1936 to 1940. A series of

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s he created in that period of the landscape and people of his Earle, Arkansas, hometown led to his receipt of a McDowell Traveling Fellowship in 1940. Cloar traveled throughout the western United States and Mexico until World War II began. He then joined the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

for the war effort. Cloar visited Mexico on a 1946

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. He traveled around Central and South America until 1950. His first one-man show was held in 1953 in Memphis. He moved permanently to Memphis in 1955, after determining the direction of his art was rooted in his Southern U.S. experience. Cloar then completed 14 works in 1955, including the representative work, "My Father Was Big as a Tree." A New York showing in 1956 helped establish his career nationally. Tennessee museums later held more than 10 exhibitions of his works, while he also displayed his work in New York showings. Cloar died in Memphis in 1993.

Museums that have acquired Cloar's works

* Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA *

Arkansas Arts Center The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum is undergoing an expansion and renovation. During this time, it is closed to the ...

, Little Rock, AR * Art Museum of Sunrise, Charleston, WV *Art Museum of The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN * Brooklyn Museum of Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY * Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH * Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR * Carroll Reese Museum, Johnson City, TN * Cheekwood Museum, Nashville, TN * Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR * High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA * Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC * Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR * Library of Congress, Washington, DC *

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is an art museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Brooks Museum, which was founded in 1916, is the oldest and largest art museum in the state of Tennessee. The museum is a privately funded nonprofit institution located in O ...

, Memphis, TN * Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY * Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS *

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is a museum located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, featuring several art collections. The permanent collection includes examples of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculpture, Southern regional art, Ol ...

, Montgomery, AL * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA * Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL * Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY * Newark Museum, Newark, NJ * Rockford Art Gallery, Rockford, IL * Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, MA * State University of New York, Albany, NY * Tennessee Fine Arts Center at

Cheekwood Cheekwood is a historic estate on the western edge of Nashville, Tennessee that houses the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. Formerly the residence of Nashville's Cheek family, the Georgian-style mansion was opened as a botanical garden and art museu ...

, Nashville, TN * Tennessee State Museum, Nashville h, TN * Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT * Whitney Museum, New York, NY * Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
University of Memphis Libraries
Memphis, TN

External links

* ttp://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=453 Encyclopedia of Arkansas writeup {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloar, Carroll 1913 births 1993 deaths Rhodes College alumni 20th-century American painters American male painters Modern painters People from Crittenden County, Arkansas United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Artists from Arkansas 20th-century American male artists