Charles Sallee

Charles L. Sallée Jr. (1913–2006) was an African-American artist from Cleveland, Ohio. He was the first African-American to graduate from the Cleveland School of Art. He was later commissioned as a WPA artist and muralist and also worked as an interior designer.

Personal life

Charles L. Sallée was born in Oberlin, Ohio. Many publications list Sallée's birth year as 1913, while other publications have his birth year dated as earlier or later. His father was an ornamental plasterer who moved the family to Sandusky, Ohio, to pursue a career as a builder. Sallée attended Sandusky High School, where he studied art, specifically Renaissance Art and the work of notable 19th-century French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. While he attended school, he produced portrait drawings of the faculty and painted a mural at the school of Commodore Perry’s Battle of Lake Erie. In a 1995 interview, Sallée said he also helped create stage sets for plays at the school.

Sallée was married to Constance Waples, his second wife, from 1960 to 1990. They had three children, a son by the name of Warren and two daughters by the name of Coco and Renee. Sallée died in 2006. Due in part to this scholarship, Sallée was able to attend the Cleveland School of Art (Cleveland Institute of Art) that year Between 1932 and 1933, Sallée also studied lithography and etching techniques at John Huntington Polytechnic Institute. The exact dates time of Sallée's graduations from Cleveland School of Art and Adelbert college of Western Reserve University are unclear. However, it is assumed Sallée completed his studies at both institutions between 1933 and 1938.

Lee-Smith and Sallée joined the WPA printmaking project at Karamu House with Zell Ingram and Fred Carlo. Sallée painted WPA murals, most of which are no longer extant.

Sallée was a prolific portraitist; however, some critics considered him to have been a better draftsman than painter. Like some of his peers at Karamu House, Sallée tended to create empathetic representations of African-Americans, Sallée also portrayed nightclub scenes in his works, which could be attributed to his involvement in Cleveland nightlife and work as an interior designer for clubs. It was one of two competitive annual shows in the city.

Military and career as an interior designer

During World War II Sallée was sent to England by the Army Corps of Engineers. He was positioned as a technical sergeant and served as a cartographer Sallée was also commissioned to design the Grand Ballroom and the Brasserie Restaurant at Stouffer's Inn on the Square (now the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel). Etching Almeda |Etching and aquatint Wrecking Crew |Soft-ground etching By Request |Etching Cabaret Scene |Soft-ground etching

Oil on canvas Anna |Etching and aquatint Cheryl |Brown chalk Bertha |Etching and aquatint Swingtime |Saint Louis Art Museum Etching and aquatint

Etching and aquatint on paper Ermetta |Etching on paper Bertha |Etching and aquatint on paper Juke Box Jive |Karamu House Collection Aquatint Girl with a Pink Geranium |The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art Oil on canvas