George Henry Clements

George Henry Clements (February 12, 1854 – December 16, 1935) was an American artist who was best known for the watercolor paintings he made in an impressionist style. Critics said his work was characterized by "exact observation" and "vivid, brief, suggestive" treatment of his subjects. Working outdoors, often while cruising on a custom-made sailboat, he chose sea and coastal scenes as his most frequent subjects. He had a folklorist's appreciation of Louisiana's Creole culture and was a supporter of civil rights for the Black communities that were oppressed by Jim Crow laws in that state.

His father having died in the year of his birth, Clements was raised by his mother in New Orleans. He began his art career by making portraits and genre paintings in that city and at a family-owned plantation nearby. To advance his training, he traveled first to Boston and then New York, where he took classes for a year at the Art Students League. He next traveled to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi. He recognized the portability and rapidity of watercolor painting while on a walking tour to Florence and thereafter used that medium for most of his work.

Throughout most of his career he showed mostly in group exhibitions held by nonprofit organizations and during the last decade of it he received solo exhibitions from commercial galleries in New York and Boston.

Although known best for his paintings, Clements was also an illustrator and on occasion an art instructor.

Early life and training

Clements was born on February 12, 1854, in San Luis Obispo, California.