Clyde singer biography

American, 1908–1999.
A richly illustrated study of the work of a beloved Ohio artist.
Clyde Singer was born in the small eastern Ohio town of Malvern in.

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Description

A richly illustrated study of the work of a beloved Ohio artist

Clyde Singer was born in the small town of Malvern in 1908 and grew up in the rural hills of Ohio. Educated in the local public schools, he had an early interest in art and, after high school, attended the school at the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. In 1933 he received a scholarship to the Arts Students’ League in New York City where his mentors were “American Scene” painters John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton. During his seven years in New York City, Singer developed a friendship with artist John Sloan, one of “The Eight” of the Ashcan School, a group of artists who painted gritty urban scenes and preceded the American Scene.

Primarily oils and watercolors, Singer’s early work focused on rural and small-town life in Ohio. Later in his career his art shifted to scenes of contemporary urban life. In 1940 Singer became the assistant director at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, and, except for military service during World War II, remained there until his death in 1999. S

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Clyde Singer

Born in Malvern, Ohio, forty miles south of Akron, Clyde Singer became known for his regionalist paintings in oil and watercolor of people at carnivals, standing in bars, on windy street corners, celebrating holidays, or looking at pictures in a gallery. Many of his works are small, ones he calls his "bread and butter" paintings, and his style is reminiscent of Robert Henri and John Sloan, continuing through the well-known regionalists, John Steuert Curry and Grant Wood.

He has worked from his basement studio in Boardman, a suburb of Youngstown. He earned early recognition for his art talents including caricatures of his teachers. He was part of a family of seven children, and his father was a miner and farmer, and Clyde was regarded as the "different" one in the family and an oddity in a town of
one-thousand people.

In high school, he made signs for local farmers, and in his 20s, working for a sign company, he was assigned special displays such as the Christmas display on the Stark County Courthouse. Enrollment in the art school of the Columbus Gall

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Clyde Singer

About the Artist: Clyde Singer (1908 - 1999), one of Ohio’s most important regionalist artists of the mid-century, was born in Malvern, Ohio. Educated in the local public schools, he had an early interest in art and, after high school, attended the school at the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. In 1933 he received a scholarship to the Arts Students’ League in New York City where his mentors were “American Scene” painters John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton. During his seven years in New York City, Singer developed a friendship with artist John Sloan, one of “The Eight” of the Ashcan School, a group of artists who painted gritty urban scenes and preceded the American Scene.

Primarily oils and watercolors, Singer’s early work focused on rural and small-town life in Ohio. Later in his career his art shifted to scenes of contemporary urban life. In 1940 Singer became the assistant director at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, and, except for military service during World War II, remained there until his death in 1999. Singer co