Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
American, 1904-2000
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.
While his two bodies of work seem at first to be worlds apart, owing to their different formal vocabularies, they, in fact, explore virtually the same subject: the nexus between life and death and the transition from earth to spirit. The early work finds its expressive power through specific people, events, and landscapes—most of which are drawn from his experiences growing up in the river town of Portsmouth, Ohio—while the later work from the 1960s on evokes potent states of being through pure flat shape, color and form that read as universals. As his primary form he adopted the ovoid or egg shape, endowing it with varying degrees of transparency. Alone or in multiples, the egg moves through Carter’s landscapes and architectural settings like a sentient spirit on a restless quest.
Born and raised in southern Ohio along the banks of the mercurial Ohio River and its treacherous floods, Carter developed a love of drawing as a child, and was encouraged by both his parents. He was self-directed, found inspiration all around him, and was strongly encouraged by the fact that his teenage work consistently captured art prizes in county and state fairs. Carter studied at the Cleveland School of Art from 1923-27, where he trained under painters Henry Keller, Frank Wilcox and Paul Travis.
Returning to Cleveland in 1929, Carter had his first solo show, and through Milliken taught studio classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1930-37. In 1938, he moved to Pittsburgh to teach at the Carnegie Institute of Technology until 1944. Carter’s American Scene paintings of the ’30s and ’40s, which launched his artistic star, are the works for which the artist remains best known.
During and immediately after World War II, Clarence Carter realized his attraction to bold pattern, dramatic perspective and eye-catching hard-edged design was a poor fit with the prevailing style of Abstract Expressionism. Fortunately, these same hallmarks of his style were prized within the realm of commercial art.
Around 1964 Carter acknowledged a need to break from the confines of representational painting. Once Carter had found a potent symbol in the egg, he used it to create an astounding body of imagery for the rest of his life. Among the most ambitious of all his later paintings were his Transections, a theological term meaning to cross, specifically between life and death.(Biography provided by WOLFS)
Color: Brown
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter
Transection w/ Architectural Forms, Geometrical Figurative Abstract Acrylic
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Transection with Architectural Forms, c. 1980s
Acrylic and graphite on board
12 x 20 inches
A surrealist mid-century figural abstract ...
Category
1980s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic, Graphite
Maze, 20th Century Geometric Figurative Abstract Acrylic Painting
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Maze, 1982
Acrylic on cardboard
Signed and dated upper right
7 x 9.5 inches
A surrealist mid-century figural abstract painting.
Clar...
Category
1980s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Trees at Bloom
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Trees at Bloom, 1939, oil on canvas, 32 x 24 inches, signed lower right
About the Painting
Trees at Bloom was painted when Clarence Holbrook Carter lived in Pittsburgh and served as an instructor in the Department of Painting and Design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University), a position he held from 1938 through 1944. It depicts a thick forest at the base of distance hills just outside the city. During his tenure in Pittsburgh, Carter was deeply influenced by not only the industrial might of the steel mills and iron forges of the city, but also the beauty of the surrounding landscape. As Frank Anderson Trapp noted in his book on the artist, for Carter “the terrain itself had its own special vitality, with its craggy, wooded hills threaded with ravine and watercourses . . . . the signs of industrial blight that were unalleviated in some parts of the country were there relieved by the geological variety of the parent landscape, and by the irrepressible presence of its natural growth, which softened the whole.” Trapp continues, “in his scenes of rural situations, Carter had a special gift for rendering those elements convincingly.” With the profusion of flowering trees which diffuse the light and the red cardinals darting from one branch to another, Trees at Bloom portrays the “irrepressible presence of nature” that Trapp describes.
About the Artist
Together with Charles Burchfield, Clarence Holbrook Carter was Ohio’s premiere American Scene painter and later an innovative magic realist. The son of a no-nonsense public-school administrator, Carter was born in 1904 outside of Portsmouth, Ohio, a small town in the heart of the Ohio River...
Category
1930s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
City Scape, Ovoid Geometrical Abstract Green & Brown Structures
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
City Scape, 1978
Acrylic on scintilla
Signed and dated lower right
30 x 22 inches
A surrealist mid-century figural abstract painting....
Category
1970s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Pappy (Study for Over and Above: Gorilla), Mid-Century Figurative Drawing
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Pappy (Study for Over and Above: Gorilla), c. 1973
Colored pencil on paper
Signed and dated lower left
7 x 7 inches
20.75 x 19 inches, framed
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...
Category
1970s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Color Pencil
Vetriculus Egg, Surrealist Ovoid acrylic and collage painting, Figural Abstract
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Vetriculus Egg, 1965
Acrylic and collage on textured paper
Signed and dated lower right
30 x 22 inches
A surrealist mid-century figura...
Category
1960s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Over and Above: Kangaroo, Mid-Century Figurative acrylic painting
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Over and Above: Kangaroo, c. 1960s
Acrylic on paper, mounted on matte board
Signed lower right
14 x 5 inches
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...
Category
1960s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
"Rockefeller Center" - Abstract Rock, Mid-Century Acrylic & Sand Painting
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Rockefeller Center, 1962
Acrylic and sand on scintilla
Signed and dated lower left
25 x 20 inches
Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a ...
Category
1960s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Mixed Media, Acrylic
Vetriculus, Surrealist Ovoid acrylic painting, Figural Abstract work on paper
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Vetriculus, c. 1970s
Acrylic on paper
4.5 x 3.5 inches
11 x 10 inches, framed
A surrealist mid-century figural abstract painting.
Cl...
Category
1970s American Modern Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Brown Mandala, Silkscreen by Clarence Holbrook Carter
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 2000)
Title: Brown Mandala
Year: 1969
Medium: Silkscreen on Scintilla paper, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 75
Paper Size: ...
Category
1960s Op Art Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Screen
Rainbow Mandala, Mid Century Abstract Red and Yellow Acrylic Painting
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Rainbow Mandala, 1983
Acrylic on scintilla
Signed and dated lower right
30 x 22 inches
Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a level of na...
Category
1980s Abstract Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Icon Mandala, Mid-Century Figural Abstract Black, Red & White Oval Face Painting
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000)
Icon Mandala, 1967
Acrylic on paper
Signed and dated lower right
30 x 22 inches
Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a level of national ...
Category
1960s Abstract Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Acrylic
Colorful Geometric Abstract, Silkscreen by Clarence Holbrook Carter 1971
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 2000)
Title: Untitled - Faces in a Grid (Red)
Year: 1971
Medium: Screenprint on Scintilla paper, Signed and numbered in pencil
Edit...
Category
1970s Abstract Geometric Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Screen
Clowns Making Up
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 2000)
Title: Clowns Making Up
Year: 1979
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 200, AP 30
Image Size: 19 x 23....
Category
1970s Contemporary Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
Materials
Lithograph
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Brown Mandala, Silkscreen by Clarence Holbrook Carter
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 2000)
Title: Brown Mandala
Year: 1969
Medium: Silkscreen on Heavy Hand-made paper, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 75
Paper ...
Category
1960s Op Art Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
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Screen
Brown Mandala, Silkscreen by Clarence Holbrook Carter
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 2000)
Title: Brown Mandala
Year: 1969
Medium: Silkscreen on Heavy Hand-made paper, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 75
Paper ...
Category
1960s Op Art Clarence Holbrook Carter Art
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Autumn
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and dated '59 lower left
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Hirschl & Adler Gallery
City Frame, New York
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Oil
Clarence Holbrook Carter art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Clarence Holbrook Carter available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, red, orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Clarence Holbrook Carter in paint, acrylic paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Clarence Holbrook Carter, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Louisa Chase, Will Barnet, and John Taylor Arms. Clarence Holbrook Carter prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $500 and tops out at $65,000, while the average work can sell for $8,500.
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