Born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Alexander Clayton’s background of art training is broad and varied. He graduated from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D. C., where he was the pupil of Richard S. Meryman, Burtis Baker and Eugene Weisz. During his four years there, he received many first prizes, especially in portraiture. Mr. Clayton also studied abstract art at the Phillips Gallery School with Karl Knaths and later with Laura Douglas, two of the most noted teachers of abstract painting. His studies have also included the techniques of the Old Masters in France, Spain and Portugal, and in Lisbon, Portugal he was honored in 1947 with an exhibition of his paintings sponsored by the American Embassy. Mr. Clayton has exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Phillips Memorial Gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and at the Galeria d’Arte Instanta, Lisbon, Portugal. The artist, a resident of Dallas since 1954, divides his professional life between Washington, D. C., New York and Texas.
During his career, Alexander Clayton has had the great privilege of painting from life many famous and exceptionally interesting people. However, in May and June, 1960 his honors reached a dramatic climax when he was given the important commission of painting His Holiness, Pope John XXIII from life sittings at the Vatican.
He was active in the Washington DC area where he was a member of the Washington Society of Artists. He has had a solo exhibition at the Tricker Gallery and exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago (1942) and the Pennsylvania Academy in 1948. He has also tuaght at the Chalet Non Pareil Gallery School in Bethesda, Maryland.
Source:
Peter Falk, “Who Was Who in American Art”
Helen Keller Archive: Transcription for Brochure from an exhibition of Alexander Clayton portraits at Findlay Galleries.
