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Abstract painting with a large circle divided into quadrants, featuring textured blocks of mustard yellow, muted blue, and cream. The background is a patchwork of similar colors, creating a geometric and harmonious composition.

John Clemmer

A Legacy in Art

with essays by Judith H. Bonner, John Ed Bradley, and David Clemmer

Over his eight-decade career, Clemmer was active in a community of artists whose work came to define Louisiana modernism.

Cover of a book titled John Clemmer: A Legacy in Art, featuring an abstract landscape painting with trees and muted colors. The Historic New Orleans Collection is mentioned at the bottom. The background is a textured brown.

John Clemmer: A Legacy in Art

HNOC 2021
hardcover • 9″ × 9″ • 148 pp.
80 color images; 35 b&w images
ISBN 978-0-917860-86-7

$54.95

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Created to accompany the 2021 exhibition commemorating the centennial of John Clemmer’s birth, John Clemmer: A Legacy in Art explores the life, work, and enduring influence of this groundbreaking Louisiana artist.

Three essays trace Clemmer’s art and career and explore how the artists in Clemmer’s modernist circle shaped each other’s work in midcentury New Orleans. Forty full-color plates and a comprehensive exhibition checklist round out this retrospective of Clemmer’s extraordinary legacy

Featured works

1988 105 o10
Abstraction, ca. 1949, oil on canvas. HNOC, 1988.105
LI 000447 5 o10
Maze, late 1950s, silkscreen print on deckled paper. Courtesy of 3618 Studio, LLC, New Orleans, LA
LI 000460 9 o10
Summary—Season II, 1964, oil on panel. Courtesy of David Clemmer, Santa Fe, NM
LI 000447 9 o10
Topographia VIII—Azteca, 1970–71, acrylic polymer and oil on canvas. Courtesy of 3618 Studio, LLC, New Orleans, LA
LI 000447 8 o10
Topographia V—Capricorn, 1975, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Jonathan Clemmer and Micahel Barnes, Royal Oak, MI
2018 0025 crpd o10 square
Sen G. II (detail), 1993, oil on canvas. HNOC, gift of Susan Brill and Michael S. Herschfield, 2018.0025
2019 0434 adj o10
From the Country House IX, 1995, oil on Masonite. HNOC, gift of Lois Charles, 2019.0434
LI 000447 6 o10
Self-Portrait, 2003, oil on canvas. Courtesy of 3618 Studio, LLC, New Orleans, LA
All works by John Clemmer

John Clemmer Centennial Video

A short film tracing the history and diverse career of the iconic New Orleans artist and educator.

Video by Inky Ink Productions

Artist Biographies by HNOC

Black and white cover image of Enrique Alférez: Sculptor by Katie Bowler Young. Features a man seated among sculptures and sculpting tools, with Enrique Alférez Sculptor text in bold yellow and white.

Enrique Alférez: Sculptor

by Katie Bowler Young

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Book cover titled Josephine Crawford: An Artists Vision by Louise C. Hoffman. It features a painting of a woman in a white dress and gloves, seated on a chair, with a neutral expression against a soft background.

Josephine Crawford: An Artist’s Vision

by Louise C. Hoffman

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Cover of the book In Search of Julien Hudson showing an illustration of a man with a beard in period attire. Text includes the title and subtitle Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans and mentions essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady.

In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans

edited and with an introduction by Erin M. Greenwald, with essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady

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Related Stories

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First Draft

John Clemmer’s Circle of Louisiana Modernists

Author John Ed Bradley recalls his time with Clemmer, who opened a door into the world of 20th-century New Orleans art.

View View
First Draft

Rolland Golden’s Paintings of Anguish and Hope after Katrina

The artist roamed the city’s flooded areas after the storm, sketching and painting scenes of a city coming to terms with disaster.

View View
Exhibitions

John Clemmer: A Legacy in Art

July 22 to November 7, 2021

Experience the life and art of a Louisiana modernist and his contemporaries.

View View
A landscape painting divided into three vertical sections, each representing a different season. The left side shows bare trees, the middle has lush greenery, and the right depicts golden autumn foliage, merging into a serene, unified scene.

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A nun stands outside a building with three large arched windows. She is facing the windows, holding a book. The building is white with some visible plants and a tree on the right. The scene has a quiet, contemplative atmosphere.
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An artistic print shows a silhouetted figure holding a bright orange torch walks through a dense, swamp-like forest with tangled branches and hanging moss.
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A vibrant, crowded scene depicting a diverse group of people gathered in a lively setting. The backdrop features arches and draped curtains. The individuals are dressed in various colorful, eclectic styles, with expressions suggesting a festive atmosphere.
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An antique Remington Portable typewriter with round keys and a black body, displayed on a plain background.
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