Clara McDonald Williamson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clara McDonald Williamson
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | November 20, 1875 |
| Died | February 17, 1976 (aged 100) |
| Nationality | American |
| Style | Naïve art |
Clara McDonald Williamson (November 20, 1875 – February 17, 1976) was an American painter. She lived for a long time, reaching 100 years old! Clara was known for her unique style called naïve art. This means her paintings looked simple and childlike, but they told amazing stories.
She often painted scenes from everyday life in the American West. Her home state of Texas was a big inspiration. Like the famous artist Grandma Moses, Clara started painting later in her life. Even though she only painted for about 20 years, she became famous across the country.
Clara's Life Story
Clara McDonald was born on November 20, 1875, in Iredell, Texas. She was one of six children. She didn't have much formal schooling. She also had very little art training when she was young.
At age 20, Clara started working in a county clerk's office. She lost this job seven years later. She then moved back to Iredell. There, she married John Williamson, who already had two children. They later had one son together.
In 1920, Clara and John moved to Dallas. They ran a boarding house and a small store. John passed away in 1943. At this time, Clara was in her late sixties. She finally decided to start painting. She had always been interested in art. However, her husband thought painting was not a useful hobby.
Clara's Art and Style
After John died in 1943, Clara began taking art classes. She studied drawing and painting at Southern Methodist University. She also took classes at the Dallas Museum School. Soon, she started creating what she called "memory paintings."
These paintings showed events from her early life in the countryside. This became a main theme in her artwork. Often, the story behind the painting was part of its title. For example, some of her works include Chicken for Dinner (1945) and The Girls Went Fishing (1945–46). She also painted Standing in the Need of Prayer (1947), which showed a church meeting at night. Other famous paintings are Texas Barn Dance (1951) and The Day the Bosque Froze Over (1953). She even painted a Christmas scene called The Night Before Christmas (1954).
Clara also painted scenes that were common in the western United States. She made two paintings about moving cattle: Git 'Long Little Dogies (1945) and Old Chisholm Trail (1952). She also painted about the arrival of trains in The Building of the Railroad (1949–50). It was rare for Clara to paint the same subject more than once. This makes her cattle-drive paintings special.
What is Naïve Art?
Clara Williamson's paintings are great examples of American naïve art. This style often shows everyday life. The paintings might have unusual angles or flat colors. The shapes are often simple and stylized. Clara's colors were usually soft greens, browns, and grays. These colors gave her paintings a gentle, glowing look. She mostly used oil paints on canvas. She also made a few charcoal drawings and watercolors.
Clara had a unique way of painting. She always started at the top of her canvas and worked her way down. She said this helped her keep paint off herself!
Becoming Famous
Clara became known as "Aunt Clara" in the art world. She sold her very first painting soon after she started. Jerry Bywaters, who was the director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, bought it.
A art dealer named Donald Vogel helped promote her work. He even wrote a book about her later. Through him, Clara started entering art shows. In 1946, she won an award at the Dallas Allied Arts Exhibit. Two years later, she had her own show at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. After this, she became famous across the country.
Her art was shown in a big exhibition in New York in 1950. This show was called "American Painting Today." Her work also traveled in several shows organized by the Smithsonian Institution. In the 1960s, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art organized a traveling show of her paintings. In 1969, a TV show about Clara was shown across the country.
Clara became very successful. But she wasn't really interested in having a big career. She once said she kept some distance from the art world. She was afraid "they'd tell me what to paint, how to paint it, and when to paint."
Clara moved into a nursing home in 1966. There, she finished her last paintings. She made over 100 paintings in her lifetime. She passed away on February 17, 1976, at the age of 100. Her paintings are now in many famous museums. These include the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Dallas Museum of Art.
