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Clay Spohn


CLAY SPOHN
(1898 – 1977).  Born in San Francisco in 1998, Spohn attended the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland from 1910 to 1916, the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco in 1914, 1920-1921, and the University of California Berkeley, between 1919 and 1922 with Armin Hansen.

In 1922 Clay Spohn moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League from 1922 to 1924, under George Luks and Guy Pene Du Bois. While in New York at the Art Students League, Spohn became a close friend with Alexander Calder, and it was Spohn who suggested to Calder that he incorporate movement into his sculpture. From 1926 to 1927, he studied in Paris at the Academie Moderne.

Returning to San Francisco in 1927, Spohn became an active member of the Bay Area art scene. In 1945, Spohn was hired by the California School of Fine Arts, where he taught until 1950. While teaching at the California School of Fine Arts, he befriended Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Richard Diebenkorn, and Hassel Smith.

In 1952 Spohn moved to Taos, New Mexico, and remained there until 1958. By 1964 Spohn returned to New York and taught at the School of Visual Arts until 1969.

Literature:
2005    Davenport, Ray Davenport’s Art Reference: The Gold Edition
2005    AskART.com Inc. – Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor) The Artists Bluebook
2004    Landauer, Susan San Francisco and Second Wave: The Blair Collection of Bay Area Abstract Expressionism
2002    Hughes, Edan Milton Artists in California: 1786-1940
2002    Witt, David L. Modernists in Taos: From Dasburg to Martin
2002    McClelland, Gordon T; Jay T. Last California Watercolors 1850-1970, An Illustrated History & Biographical Dictionary
1999    Beasley, David Understanding Modern Art: The Boundless Spirit of Clay Edgar Spohn
1999    Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, 3 volumes
1998    Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall California Art: 450 Years of Painting & Other Media
1997    Ellis, Robert M. (Director) Harwood Museum: Collection Handbook
1996    Karlstrom, Paul J (editor) On the Edge of America California Modernist Art, 1900-1950
1996    Landauer, Susan * The San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism
1996    Robert White, Editor New Mexico Art History Conference Abstracts, 1986-1995
1995    Ehrlich, Susan (editor) * Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California
1992    Witt, David Taos Moderns Art of the New
1989    Hughes, Edan Milton Artists in California, 1786-1940
1987    Cummings, Paul Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists (5th Edition)
1986    Opitz, Glenn B (editor) Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers
1985    Albright, Thomas Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945-1980/An Illustrated History
1985    Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art: Artists Active Between 1898-1947
1984    Orr-Cahill, Christina The Art of California Selected Works/ Oakland Museum
1984    Opitz, Glenn B (editor) Dictionary of American Sculptors: 18th Century to Present
1984    Witt, David L The Taos Artists A Historical and Biographical Dictionary
1981    Baird, Joseph Armstrong Jr. From Exposition to Exposition Northern California Painting
1976    San Francisco Museum Modern Art Painting & Sculpture in California The Modern Era
1975    Editor, Smithsonian Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Checklist of the Collection
1974    Plagens, Peter Sunshine Muse Contemporary Art on the West Coast
1973    McChesney, Mary Fuller A Period of Exploration San Francisco 1945-1950
1939    Parker, Thomas (De Young Mus) * Frontiers of American Art: Works Progress Administration
1935    Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge Index of Artists: International-Biographical Two Volumes

Solo Exhibitions:
1931    San Francisco Art League and Art Center Gallery, San Francisco, California
1942    San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
1946    Rotunda Gallery, Paris
1947    Stables Gallery, Taos, New Mexico
1971    Atrium Orbis Corporation, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1974    The Oakland Museum, Oakland, California

Selected Group Exhibitions:
1945    San Francisco Museum of Art: 65th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1946    California Palace of The Legion of Honor: First Spring Annual Exhibition
1948    California Palace of The Legion of Honor: Second Annual Exhibition
1948    San Francisco Museum of Art: 67th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1954    San Francisco Museum of Art: 73rd Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1973    Oakland Museum: A Period of Exploration: San Francisco 1945-1950
1976    San Francisco Museum of Art: Painting and Sculpture – The Modern Era

Museums:
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA), San Francisco, California
The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, New Mexico
Frederick R Weisman Art Museum, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sources:
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
David Carlson, Carlson Gallery
www.AskART.com


California Art Company is Actively Seeking to Acquire Paintings by Clay Spohn

California Art Company, LLC is actively seeking to acquire fine art paintings by Clay Spohn. If you have a painting by Clay Spohn that you would like to sell please email photos and your asking price to greg@californiaartcompany.com or give us a call at (818) 398-7363.


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