The Lithographs of Carroll Cloar

Although formally trained in New York, Carroll Cloar (1913–1993) spent most of his career in Memphis, Tenn., creating works of art based on his memories of his childhood in Earle, Ark. In addition to the hundreds of paintings and drawings Cloar created, he made lithographs in the 1930s and 1940s, all printed in editions of 25. Borrowing from a private collection and the University of Memphis, this exhibition brought together these 31 prints in a single gallery. These lithographs, like Cloar’s paintings, lend a surrealist tone to subjects based on stories of people and places from Cloar’s childhood, biblical narratives and popular culture. Unlike his colorful paintings and linear drawings, the prints’ strong contrast of black-and-white forms and painterly lines create a hauntingly different atmosphere.