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Clarence Holbrook Carter
Ablaze, Ovoid Faces Looking Through Geometrical Windows

1973-79

About the Item

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Ablaze, 1973-79 Acrylic and collage on scintilla Signed and dated lower left 30 x 22 inches A surrealist mid-century figural abstract painting. Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a level of national artistic success that was nearly unprecedented among Cleveland School artists of his day, with representation by major New York dealers, scores of awards and solo exhibits, and streams of praise flowing from pens of the top art critics. Over the course of his 60+ year career Carter evolved from an exceptionally fine American Scene painter capable of evoking deep reservoirs of mood, into an abstractionist with a strongly surrealist bent. Carter's quest for a symbolic artistic language continued in this period with the introduction for the Ovoid or Egg form into his work. Perfectly suited to his preoccupation with the mysteries of life and the themes of death and transfiguration, the Ovoid or Egg symbolized all of these mysteries in a succinct and visually simple form. The Ovoid/Egg is employed in various fashions to wonderful effect by Carter. It is at once tough and fragile, and in Carter's depictions it is opaque or translucent; it is reminiscent of the shape of a human head, it becomes a substitute for a person or a soul. The Egg/Ovoid that is devoid of human features is given a single eye, or mouth, and is an instantly recognizable reduction of the human being.
  • Creator:
    Clarence Holbrook Carter (1904-2000, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1973-79
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Beachwood, OH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1768211326592

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