ALSON SKINNER CLARK Curaçao, West Indies.

ALSON SKINNER CLARK

Curaçao, West Indies.

Oil on panel, 1914. 185x240 mm; 7¼x9½ inches. Signed in pencil, lower right recto.Ex-collection private collection, New York; thence by descent to the current owner, private collection, New York.Clark (1876-1949) grew up in Chicago, the son of the industrialist Alson Ellis Clark. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended the Art Students League in New York, where he met William Merritt Chase (1849-1916). At Chase’s recommendation, in 1898 Clark spent two years in Europe studying under James A. M. Whistler (1834-1903) in Paris; he was one of very few artists to have this experience with Whistler (the Académie Carmen was founded by Whistler, but classes were primarily taught by other instructors chosen by Whistler, who was largely absent, owing mainly to his poor health). Exposed to the Impressionist movement, Clark’s brushstrokes evolved into broken dabs of color by the early 1900s. Moving between New York, Paris and Chicago, and traveling to exotic locations such as Italy, Mexico, the Caribbean and Panama, Clark found international success. He continued to travel extensively throughout his career before settling in Southern California in the 1920s.