Allan Hugh Clarke - Artist - 1919-1979

"Did He Who Made the Lamb Make Thee?"

Linocut by Allan Hugh Clarke, 1946

ALLAN HUGH CLARKE
Record Changer #7 - 1954
Oil on canvas - 51 x 38 in.

"Promised Land" - watercolor - private collection

Allan Hugh Clarke - 1950

Record Changer Series - Oil on Canvas

Allan Hugh Clarke - 1954

Artist Allan Hugh Clarke was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 2, 1919, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Steadman Clarke, Sr. (Nellie E.) and was raised in New Kensington / Brackenridge, PA, along with his siblings Harriet and Gerald S. "Terry" Clarke (another child, Terry's twin, died in infancy). He was a student at Carnegie Institute of Technology before entering the army in August 1942. Resuming his studies there at the end of World War II, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Tech in 1947.
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During World War II, Clarke was a member of the 453rd unit as a tail gunner on the B-24 liberator, “Jughead”. For participation in six bombing missions over enemy Europe, Staff Sgt. Allan Clarke was awarded the Air Medal. He used his off-duty hours to draw and paint the people and activities of the unit. A photo of Clarke with his plane and the crew is shown below:

Photo of the men of the "Jughead" - Clarke is in the front row,

third from the right (Courtesy of Thomas A. Fahey, Jr.)

Upon graduation from Carnegie Tech, Clarke served as instructor on the arts faculty of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Among the work he exhibited at that time was a watercolor titled “The Cut Glass Bowl” (1948), which Director Carlton V. Earle described as “vibrant with intense mystic quality”. Some of his paintings were entered in the Terry National Art Exhibit at Miami, Florida.

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Clarke taught at the University of New Hampshire on the fine arts faculty when George Thomas (1906-1988) was the head of the art department there. Clarke and Thomas were friends as well as academic colleagues. At the University of New Hampshire, Clarke taught courses in Elementary Drawing and Design, Fundamental Forms, Lettering, Block Printing and Color, Advanced Drawing and Design, Advanced Painting, Renaissance Art, and Modern Western Art. As a reminder of his time there, the University of New Hampshire has a work by Clarke in its collection, titled "Mid-Summer Still Life" (1949).

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Thereafter until the time of his death, he resided in Manhattan. He taught at Pratt Institute. Clarke had a one-man show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan shortly after it opened, in the early 1950s. He also had a one man show at the Feigl Gallery, Manhattan, of his oils and gouaches in September 1950 (exhibition held Sept. 26-Oct. 11, 1950; exhibition catalog is in the collection of The Frick Museum). Artists such as Kokoschka, Rouault, Soutine, Utrillo, Vuillard, and Marc Chagall were also being exhibited at the Feigl Gallery around that time.
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In May of 1954, paintings by Andy Warhol and by Allan Hugh Clarke were displayed at the Loft Gallery, in Manhattan. The two were friends and fellow classmates at Carnegie Tech. His work was also displayed at the Zabriskie Gallery; November 5-24, 1956. That exhibition drew the notice of and an article in "The New York Times" on November 6, 1956, entitled: "Allan Clarke's Abstractions Reflect the City". One notice said: "This exhibition charts the movement of a firm and talented painter within the past three years from rhythmic, geometric landscapes and shifting planes to a more abstract style in which color-shapes, particularly spiral groupings, are superimposed upon prepared surfaces suggesting spiral depths and contrasts of light and dark. (Zabriskie Nov. 5-21)". In a statement accompanying his exhibition at the Zabriskie Gallery, Clarke explained that in his latest abstractions he was trying to find some painterly counterpart to the aesthetic excitement he found in the man-made forms of the city.
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Earlier that year (September 17 - October 13) Clarke's work was part of a group exhibit at the Zabriskie Gallery that also included Pat Adams, Robert Conover, Edmund Casarella, and Lester Johnson, the success of which led to that one man show.
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Here are several quotes from reviews of shows that included his work in 1953 at the Loft Gallery: "At the Loft Gallery, a new exhibition area, a group of new names makes its appearance. Wolfgang Beck, Allan Hugh Clarke, Vito Giallo, Gillian Jagger, Edward Rager, Andy Warhol, and Jacques B. Willaumez" ... "Allan Hugh Clarke who teaches at Pratt Institute displays a deft and tricky technique in a number of canvases which appear to have come right off a production line, polished and slick and vacant." (Art Digest, Volume 28, 1953, pages 18 & 20).
The Loft Gallery's Opening Exhibition Announcement is shown above. About that initial exhibit of Andy Warhol's art, and the art of his artist friends, the New York Times said (on April 14, 1954): "Seven young painters have collaborated in the establishment of a new gallery at 302 East Forty-fifth Street that, for reasons which will become apparent to the visitor, has been christened the Loft Gallery." The rest, as they say, is history.

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Clarke’s mid-century modern art might be described as cubistic, or dynamic abstraction, or abstract expressionism. He is noted for a series of paintings of horses, a series based on the forms of record players (examples of which are shown in this post and in the post below), and abstract landscapes. Clarke made all of his own frames for his paintings—he worked in both oils and watercolors and is known to have produced linocuts as well (see above).

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Correspondence, gallery show catalogues, and other materials pertaining to Clarke may be found in the following archives: The Liturgical Arts Society at The University of Notre Dame, The Pittsburgh Artists File at The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, The Frick Museum, The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers of The Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum and Library Archives, the Hans Hoffman Papers at the Archives of American Art, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Clarke died in New York in October of 1979.

I am pleased to note that there are several people who have commented on the duplicate biography I shared with the website Ask/Art. I am going to share them here in the hope that more of a conversation can occur regarding his work.
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On 06/11/2011 Vito Giallo wrote this: "I was a friend of Alan's in the early 1950's I formed the Loft Gallery in 1953 on East 45th St. N.Y.C. Alan and Andy Warhol was part of the group of aprox. 10 artists that I exhibited, as well as my self."

On 03/16/2007 Zygfryd Dabrowski said: "Allan Hugh Clarke is one of the lost treasures of the New York art scene in the era of the abstract expressionist movement. It would be great to see some of his work surface so that he can be appreciated by the art world and the public."

If you have news to share about Clarke's work, I would be glad to hear from you. Allan Hugh Clarke was my uncle. I can recall my grandmother telling me that his paintings were for a time in storage, and that, unable to continue to pay for the storage, the owner of the storage company took possession of the art. One wonders where it is, today. Occasionally (very occasionally) I see something by him advertised on line, as indicated by this post.
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(This is the most complete biography of Allan Hugh Clarke that is readily available on-line. If you wish to have references concerning my research, or if you know of other works by Clarke, please contact me.)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Today, it seems, Google is reminding us it is a famous architect's birthday. That architect was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe whose elegantly spare modern buildings are best known for their glass and steel look. The Farnsworth House in Illinois comes to mind as does the Seagram Building in Manhattan and Lake Shore Apartments in Chicago, or the Barcelona Pavillion, with its jazzy Barcelona chairs. Mies was the darling of the architecture professors of Penn State in the 1970s, for this cool, crisp way of defining space. Mies was the master of "Less is More" (one of his best-remembered bits of architectural advice). Which may have simply been something lost in translation, such as "More or less...".

At any rate, Mies' idea of pared down design caught on, and as it did, scads of architects brought you what we might call "airport waiting area meets your local middle school" style architecture as a result. Enough said.

A whole generation, nay, several generations, of architects, followed in his footsteps until Venturi and others pointed out that once you get Mies' geometries right, you have nowhere further to go and since he got them right, it might be time to try something different in the way of doing architecture. None of this is to take away from his genius, but it did have interesting consequences in that rosy glow period when his admirers were molding young minds about what was and was not good architecture.

One of our PUS professors loved to give "walking tours" of the campus in State College, where he would point out with glee all of the follies and foibles of the architects who had designed in this that or the other "style" whether it be Richardsonian Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Colonial Revival or Neoclassical. We would sail past the lovely little gem of a building called Schwab Auditorium and the robust brick aggie buildings and the imposing New Deal Neoclassical Patee Library and were taught to knowingly guffaw with gusto into the invariably chilly air. All the while I had a strong sense that perhaps the professor in question was overstating facts, and now that some of the architectural world has come to appreciate some of the work of those bygone days, I suppose that hunch had a bit of justification in it. I will also just mention that he quietly avoided commenting on "The Birdcage" that was tacked on to the end of the architectural engineering building, a nod to Mies and his vocabulary. An unsuccessful nod, nonetheless.

Along the way, we students did enjoy picking up the tidbits of lore about Mies, and one of my favorites is that when he designed the Farnsworth House (the quintessential glass house, soon very beautifully answered by Philip Johnson's version thereof), Mies did not provide for air conditioning... Let that sink in a moment. Glass house. Suburban Illinois. I have been there in the summertime. AC is mucho appreciated.

And I always wondered whether Dr. Farnsworth (or Little Philip Johnson as F L W used to call him) were ever taught the maxim about people who live in glass houses...?

Still, one of Mies' quotes is correct and would have fit the occasion of the Happy Valley walking tours, as well as his own work, so I will post it here:

"Architecture is the translation of its epoch into space."

Happy 126th birthday, dear Ludwig, happy birthday to you!

Jack Wolfgang Beck - Artist - 1923-1988

Jack Wolfgang Beck, was a graphic and fine art artist whose advertizing art helped to create a look that today we might call "Mad Men" mid-20th century style art. He was also one of seven artists who shared in the first group exhibition of works at The Loft Gallery in Manhattan; among the other artists was Andy Warhol.

Beck was born in Chicago, Illinois, January 23, 1923, the son of Robert and Bertha (Biermann) Beck. His parents had been married in Chicago on January 19, 1920.

As early as 1949 Beck’s work in advertising art was being noticed and commented on by art critics in the media in New York City.

In addition to this commercial art, Beck also joined forces with seven other artitst to hold an exibit of their work. The seven young painters collaborated in the establishment of a new gallery at 302 East Forty-fifth Street that was christened The Loft Gallery in April of 1954. It was Wolfgang Beck’s large midtown studio loft that was turned into The Loft Gallery, on the top of a five floor walk-up at East 49th Street between First and York.

Those whose work was presented were: Wolfgang Beck, Allan Hugh Clarke, Vito Giallo, Gillian Jagger, Edward Rager, Andy Warhol, and Jacques B. Willaumez.

The gallery of Theater East showed his work in October of 1956. One critic wrote: “The exception was Jackson Wolfgang: Beck, whos curious figures recall the childhood dreamlife”. (Village Voice, Oct 31, 1956).

In 1956 several artists of note, including Beck, produced a series of subway posters. The subway posters (art directed by Silas Rhodes) were by George Tscherny, Ivan Chermayeff, Phil Hays, Robert Weaver, Bob Gill, and Jack Wolfgang Beck, all of whom taught at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) at the time.

In September of 1957, Beck’s art was shown in a New York City gallery show as well.

Throughout his career, Beck’s work moved deftly between a variety of applications, as a graphic artist, he created promotional and advertising design, book design and editorial design.

Selected work:

- “Trees in the Sun”, oil, Oil, Signed Lower Right, n.d.
- Drawings for “Life” magazine; May 30, 1955
- Poster of the quotation: "To the ideal of freedom, law and morality are indispensably requisite...Society and the state are the very conditions in which freedom is realized."--George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Philosophy of History, 1837. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man, 1956, Acrylic on canvas 28 x 18 1/8 in. (71.1 x 46.0 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Container Corporation of America 1984.124.32 (Not currently on view).
- Drawings for Life magazine; Oct 14, 1957
- “William Morris”, Book Cover Drawing, 1957
- Haymakers Lady's Shoes Ad, 1957
- “Without Art…” poster; (School of Visual Arts Collection), late 1950s
School of Visual Arts Department of Illustration Exhibition, 1961: Jack Wolfgang Beck
- “Blitzkrieg” (story illustrations) in Boys Life, October 1963
- Hamlet, By William Shakespeare, design by Daniel Haberman, illus. by Jack Wolfgang Beck.
- “Untitled,” mid-1900s; ink, watercolor on board. Gift of Esquire, Inc. Not on display. Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. n.d.

Beck died in New York City on August 10, 1988.

The Terry Art Institute and The Terry National Art Exhibit

The Terry National Art Exhibit was a prestigious and exciting development in the fine art world in the 1950s. Edward B. Terry devised the exhibit in conjunction with the Terry Art Institute, which was located in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami, on SW 27th Avenue at 10th Street. The Terry Art Institute boasted one of the most beautiful, spacious and modern buildings in the South, used exclusively for art. It billed itself as, "Florida's Outstanding Art Institution."

Artist Marion Terry served as president and head of the Terry Art Institute and E. B. Terry served as treasurer. The institute offered day and evening classes in all forms of commercial art and costume design, as well as the fine arts. An excellent faculty included such well-known artists as Marion Terry, Paul Laessle, Chester Tingler, and Joe Adams.

Registrations resulted in students from such places as Winnipeg, Canada, New Mexico, Ohio and many other far off places in the States.

In 1951, the Terry National Art Exhibit caused a nationwide stir in art circles. The concept behind the huge national art show was to feature the best work of artists from every section of the country. Said E. B. Terry, promoter of the show, “I don’t care if they all go to Kalamazoo or New York or Coral Gables. Pick the best paintings regardless of place.” Which the exhibit curators did, with the result that the artists featured spanned the country; many achieved broad recognition in the art world.

Exhibits were held in subsequent years. One article claimed that among the art events of 1952 none attracted more attention among artists than the Terry National Art Exhibit held in Miami, Florida.

In 1953, the media characterized the exhibit as “extravagant” with very generous prizes awarded, at the Dinner Key auditorium in Miami. The exhibition was said to have cost $85,000 and featured some of the highest art awards in history, with $13,000, given out. Artists from 47 states were represented. The Terry Art Institute was short-lived; by 1955 Marion Terry had relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she continued her art career independently.

Among those whose works won the Terry National Art Exhibit prizes were James Brown (First Place), Lamar Dodd (Honorable Mention) and Ellis Wilson, whose $3,000 award allowed him to travel to and paint in Haiti.

Selected List of Artists Associated With and/or Whose Work was Featured at the Terry:

Will Peterson
Leopold Segedin
Paul Laessle
Chester Tingler
Marion E. Terry
Joe Adams
Ruth Erb Hoffman
Ellis Wilson - who received a $3000 award
Allan Hugh Clarke
Patricia Lee Morrison
Lamar Dodd
Hans Burkhartd
Maxwell Simpson
Margo Hoff
James Brown
Alexander Millar
Phyllis Rosen Cohen
Mary Lee Cull
Dorothy Lake Gregory
Elmo Gideon
Howard A. Jacobs
John Klinkenberg
Myrtle Anne Charles Otto
Rudi Pozzatti
Samuel Salko
Clay Spohn
Nahum Tschacbasov
G. Russell Tolton
Annie Truxell
Bettie Moran
Don Adams - yes, the actor from “Get Smart”
George Kachergis
Bruce Gregory

Wekiva Presbyterian Rent-a-Yute Workers...

PROVERBS 12:25 – Speak encouraging words, today. This is a Wekivaword.

The Church Cat

I wish I had a photo to share with you of the sweetest thing that happened last evening. Judy, Anne and I stopped briefly at the church around 10 p.m. to get Judy's car (we had met there at five to go on to see a movie). It was drizzling very lightly.

When we drove up, standing in the otherwise empty parking lot, right in front of the Campanile, was the cutest cat. Mostly black with some white here and there. I am sure there is a technical name for that kind of marking. Jellicle? Billicat? Tuxedo? I think perhaps Tuxedo is right since there was much more black than white.


The cat saw the car coming toward the Campanile, and began going around the Campanile the same way we were intending to drive. Yes, the way that the arrows indicate--counterclockwise. The cat kept looking over his shoulder watching the car, and we all sort of giggled that the little fellow must have been thinking we were intentionally following him.

At any rate, when we got to just in front of the main doors we stopped. The cat ducked through one of the arches and into the base of the Campanile area. From our angle at that point, we could no longer see him; since one of the corners blocked our view.

But when we started up again, there he was, lying there, looking out at us, and lazily moving his tail, purrrfectly happy as could be, on the center "date stone", as if the entire bell tower had been built just for his enjoyment. Even though he was dressed rather formally, he looked so casual, as only a cat can.

Of course our response was: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!