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.
The Low Road
The Low Road

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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The Low Road
The Low Road
Escape to Morning, preliminary
Escape to Morning, preliminary
The Tryst
The Tryst
Cotter, Saturday Night
Cotter, Saturday Night
The Tryst, Study
The Tryst, Study
Pecan Orchard
Pecan Orchard
Wild Okra
Wild Okra
The Letter
The Letter
Girl in Wading Pool
Girl in Wading Pool
Girl in the Sunflowers
Girl in the Sunflowers
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
The Late Sis Pearlie Mae
The Late Sis Pearlie Mae
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
The Artist, Study
The Artist, Study
Quilts, Study
Quilts, Study
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
Musical Family, Study
Musical Family, Study
The Law Office, Study
The Law Office, Study
Children on the Tracks, Study
Children on the Tracks, Study
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
Mablevale Representatives at Chautauqua, Study
Nostalgia
Nostalgia
 Preacher of the Holiness
Preacher of the Holiness
Old Letters
Old Letters
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Life Story (Jack David)
Life Story (Jack David)
Hubert Beard
Hubert Beard
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Father
Portrait of my Father
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Bill Henry's Residence
Bill Henry's Residence
The Ingredients
The Ingredients
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
The Low Road
The Low Road
acrylic on masonite, 23x34
1968
Escape to Morning, preliminary
Escape to Morning, preliminary
acrylic on masonite, 20x30
c. 1971
The Tryst
The Tryst
tempera on board, 24x34
1963
Cotter, Saturday Night
Cotter, Saturday Night
acrylic on masonite, 23x34
1977
The Tryst, Study
The Tryst, Study
graphite on vellum, 24x34
1963
Pecan Orchard
Pecan Orchard
acrylic on masonite, 12x16
1975
Wild Okra
Wild Okra
casein on masonite, 24x34
1961
The Letter
The Letter
acrylic on masonite, 23x34
1977
Girl in Wading Pool
Girl in Wading Pool
acrylic on masonite, 16x12
1972
Girl in the Sunflowers
Girl in the Sunflowers
acrylic on masonite, 12x16
1971
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
It's Been A Long Old Lonesome Day
casein tempera on masonite, 26x40
1964
The Late Sis Pearlie Mae
The Late Sis Pearlie Mae
acrylic on masonite, 28x40
1970
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
What Charlie Mae Dreamt, Study
graphite on paper, 28.5x39.75
1988
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
Two Girls in the Lane, Study
graphite on vellum, 23x34
1973
The Artist, Study
The Artist, Study
graphite on vellum, 24x34
1964
Quilts, Study
Quilts, Study
graphite on vellum, 28x40
1963
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
First 4-Leaf Clover of the Season, Tracing
graphite and colored pencil on vellum, 23x34
1971
Musical Family, Study
Musical Family, Study
graphite on paper, 23x34.75
1982
The Law Office, Study
The Law Office, Study
graphite on vellum, 23x34
1978
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
Nostalgia
Nostalgia
lithograph, 12.75x9.25
1940
 Preacher of the Holiness
Preacher of the Holiness
lithograph, 12.5x8.5
1940
Old Letters
Old Letters
lithograph, 14x10.75
1940
Brother Hinson and his Friends
Brother Hinson and his Friends
lithograph, 15.5x9.25
1947
Life Story (Jack David)
Life Story (Jack David)
lithograph, 14.75x11.5
1939
Hubert Beard
Hubert Beard
lithograph, 13.75x10.25
1947
Portrait of my Mother
Portrait of my Mother
lithograph, 15x10
1939
Portrait of my Father
Portrait of my Father
lithograph, 12x11
1939
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
Untitled (Abstract) 33382
house paint on artist board, 9.75x5
c. 1960
Bill Henry's Residence
Bill Henry's Residence
lithograph, 10x13.5
1939
The Ingredients
The Ingredients
lithograph, 14x10
1940
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
Untitled (Drip Bird) 33248
watercolor & house paint on artist board, 15x20
c. 1965

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