Oils

O’Callahan created a quantitatively impressive body of work during his short artistic period that is powerful, beautiful, and captivating. He was well known between World War I and World War II as an artist of recognized abilities and his exhibitions received favorable comments from critics both in the United States and in Europe. This virtual exhibition of his oil paintings shows a comprehensive picture of his development, stylistic fluctuations, and emergence as an admired modernist painter.

Clinton’s most prolific period of producing advanced oil paintings came between 1919 and 1933. As art critics noted, his work reflects the tradition of realism while at the same time not being limited by it. His paintings are a beautiful balance between weighted form and innovative exploration. Although some paintings embody a sincere and dignified mood, others exhibit playful and poetic patterns. His oils vary, from a reflection of more traditional training (influenced by his teachers, Henry C. White and Charles Noel Flagg in Hartford, CT) to advanced impressionistic techniques (taught by Charles Hawthorne in Provincetown, MA during multiple summer sessions). Once in Paris, O’Callahan’s influence from his mentor Charles Guerin at the Grande Chaumiere is evident in the exploration of solid form, structure, and often Fauve-like color patterns.

O’Callahan’s absorption and experimentation of the modern art ideas during his life come from early sources like his esteemed American and European teachers, his friend Milton Avery and contemporary American artists he exhibited with. Later sources of influence were his European teacher and artists such as the Impressionists (especially Renoir), Cézanne, the Fauves (Matisse, Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck) and Gauguin, to name a few. He assimilated ideas and practices without imitating them, always staying true to his American roots.