# Clay Spohn

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{{Short description|American visual artist (1898–1977)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Clay Spohn
| birth_name         = Clay Edgar Spohn
| birth_date         = November 24, 1898
| birth_place        = [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California), U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1977|12|19|1898|11|24}}
| death_place        = [New York City, New York](/source/New_York_City%2C_New_York), U.S.
| education          = [California College of Arts and Crafts](/source/California_College_of_Arts_and_Crafts), [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley),[California School of Fine Arts](/source/California_School_of_Fine_Arts), [Art Students League of New York](/source/Art_Students_League_of_New_York), [Académie Moderne](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_Moderne)
| occupation         = Painter, muralist, printmaker, sculptor, designer, educator
| movement           = Surrealism, fantasy art, abstract art
}}

'''Clay Edgar Spohn''' (November 24, 1898 – December 19, 1977)<ref name="Berkeley Gazette-1977">{{Cite news |date=1977-12-22 |title=Artist Spohn dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkeley-gazette-artist-spohn-dies/177703917/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=[Berkeley Gazette](/source/Berkeley_Gazette) |pages=26 |type=Obituary |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref> was an American painter, muralist, printmaker, sculptor, designer, and educator. He taught at the [California School of Fine Arts](/source/California_School_of_Fine_Arts) (now San Francisco Art Institute), and [School of Visual Arts](/source/School_of_Visual_Arts) in New York City. Spohn's art has been described as "whimsical, abstract and satirical".<ref name="The Independent-1974">{{Cite news |date=May 18, 1974 |title=Spohn's art at museum |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-spohns-art-at-museum/177705501/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=The Independent (Richmond, California) |pages=34 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref> He was a member of the collective [American Abstract Artists](/source/American_Abstract_Artists).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Members |url=http://americanabstractartists.org/current-members/past/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320224224/http://americanabstractartists.org/current-members/past/ |archive-date=March 20, 2016 |website=americanabstractartists.org}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Clay Edgar Spohn was born on November 24, 1898, in [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California).<ref name="Hughes-2002">{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Edan Milton |author-link=Edan Milton Hughes |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Artists_in_California_1786_1940_L_Z/eC4jAQAAIAAJ |title=Artists in California, 1786-1940: L-Z |date=2002 |publisher=[Crocker Art Museum](/source/Crocker_Art_Museum) |isbn=978-1-884038-08-2 |pages=1049 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Archives of American Art">{{Cite web |title=Clay Spohn papers, circa 1862–1985, Biographical Note |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/clay-spohn-papers-9468/biographical-note |website=[Archives of American Art](/source/Archives_of_American_Art), Smithsonian Institution}}</ref> He was raised in Berkeley, California, and graduated from [Berkeley High School](/source/Berkeley_High_School_(California)).

He attended the [California College of Arts and Crafts](/source/California_College_of_Arts_and_Crafts) (now California College of the Arts) from 1911 to 1912; the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley) from 1919 to 1921, under [Perham Nahl](/source/Perham_Nahl); the [California School of Fine Arts](/source/California_School_of_Fine_Arts) (now San Francisco Art Institute); the [Art Students League of New York](/source/Art_Students_League_of_New_York) from 1922 to 1925, under [Kenneth Hayes Miller](/source/Kenneth_Hayes_Miller), [Boardman Robinson](/source/Boardman_Robinson), [George Luks](/source/George_Luks) and Guy DuBois; and the [Académie Moderne](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_Moderne) in Paris from 1926 to 1927, under [Fernand Léger](/source/Fernand_L%C3%A9ger) and [Othon Friesz](/source/Othon_Friesz).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Who_s_Who_in_American_Art/eZZPAAAAMAAJ |title=Who's Who in American Art |date=1976 |publisher=R. R. Bowker LLC |isbn=978-0-8352-0850-5 |pages=535 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hughes-2002" /><ref name="Annex Galleries">{{Cite web |title=Clay Edgar Spohn, American, 1898–1977 |url=https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/2238/Spohn/Clay |website=The Annex Galleries}}</ref> 

At the Art Students League of New York, Spohn befriended sculptor [Alexander Calder](/source/Alexander_Calder), who had an art studio near his classes while he was in Paris.<ref name="Annex Galleries" />

== Career ==
[[File:Fiesta Procession in Old California, by Clay Spohn, 1938.jpg|alt=Fiesta Procession in Old California (1938) mural by Clay Spohn, in the post office in Montebello, California, now destroyed|thumb|''Fiesta Procession in Old California'' (1938) mural by Clay Spohn, in the post office in [Montebello, California](/source/Montebello%2C_California), now destroyed]]
Spohn returned to San Francisco Bay Area in 1927.<ref name="Archives of American Art" /> He was employed by the [Works Progress Administration](/source/Works_Progress_Administration) (WPA) from 1935 to 1942, where he created copper [bas relief](/source/bas_relief) murals, painted murals, paintings, and lithographs.<ref name="Annex Galleries" /> He created a mural ''Fiesta Procession in Old California'' (1938) for the post office in [Montebello, California](/source/Montebello%2C_California) (now destroyed), and a mural (1939) at [Los Gatos Union High School](/source/Los_Gatos_Union_High_School) (now [Los Gatos High School](/source/Los_Gatos_High_School)) in [Los Gatos, California](/source/Los_Gatos%2C_California).<ref name="Archives of American Art" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1941 |title=Local Indian Legend Subject of Mural Just Erected at Los Gatos High School |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-gatos-times-saratoga-observer-local/177706637/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer |pages=10 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref>

In early 1942, Spohn created a body of work he called "Guerro-Graphs" consisting of [gouache](/source/gouache) paintings of abstracted war machines.<ref name="The Independent-1974" /> The [San Francisco Museum of Art](/source/San_Francisco_Museum_of_Art) mounted Spohn's solo exhibition of this work titled, ''Fantastic War Machines and Guerragraphs'' (1942).<ref name="Oakland Tribune-1942">{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1942 |title=Fantastic War Machines To Go on Display |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-fantastic-war-machines-t/177705677/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=Oakland Tribune |pages=44 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref>

From 1945 to 1950, Spohn taught at the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute),<ref name="Annex Galleries" /> under the directorship of [Douglas MacAgy](/source/Douglas_MacAgy). In 1941, he designed the decor for the first San Francisco Arts Festival.<ref name="Berkeley Gazette-1977" />

Spohn moved to [Taos, New Mexico](/source/Taos%2C_New_Mexico) from 1952 until 1958,<ref name="Annex Galleries" /> and associated himself with the [Taos art colony](/source/Taos_art_colony). In 1958, he worked as a lecturer at [Mount Holyoke College](/source/Mount_Holyoke_College), in Massachusetts.<ref name="Archives of American Art" /> He taught at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City from 1964 to 1969.<ref name="Annex Galleries" />

In 1974, the [Oakland Museum of California](/source/Oakland_Museum_of_California) (OMCA) held retrospective exhibition for Spohn, curated by Terry St. John.<ref name="Berkeley Gazette-1977" /><ref name="The Independent-1974" />

Spohn died on December 19, 1977, in New York City.<ref name="Berkeley Gazette-1977" />

== Collections ==
His work is included in museum collections, including at the [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art) in New York City;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clay Spohn |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/artists/45834 |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) |language=en}}</ref> the [National Gallery of Art](/source/National_Gallery_of_Art) in Washington, D.C.;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clay Edgar Spohn |url=https://www.nga.gov/artists/34029-clay-edgar-spohn |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=National Gallery of Art (NGA) |language=en}}</ref> [Crocker Art Museum](/source/Crocker_Art_Museum) in Sacramento, California;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Red, Green, and Violet by Clay Spohn |url=https://www.crockerart.org/art/detail/red-green-and-violet-clay-spohn-2011-97 |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=Crocker Art Museum |language=en}}</ref> [San Francisco Museum of Modern Art](/source/San_Francisco_Museum_of_Modern_Art);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spohn, Clay |url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/clay-spohn/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=SFMOMA |language=en-US}}</ref> the [Oakland Museum of California](/source/Oakland_Museum_of_California);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Object number: A83.47.167 |url=https://portal.museumca.org/catalog/?&op=AND&search_field=objectproductionperson_txt&q=Clay%20Spohn |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=OMCA Collection |language=en}}</ref> the [Harwood Museum of Art](/source/Harwood_Museum_of_Art) in Taos;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clay Spohn |url=https://harwood.emuseum.com/people/1082/clay-spohn/objects |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=Harwood Museum of Art}}</ref> and the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art) in New York City.<ref>{{Citation |last= |title=The Four Stages of Life: Clay Edgar Spohn (American, San Francisco, California 1898–1977 New York) |date=1935–43 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/397726 |access-date=2025-07-29 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> 

== Exhibitions ==

=== Solo exhibitions ===

* 1942, ''Fantastic War Machines and Guerragraphs'', solo exhibition, [San Francisco Museum of Art](/source/San_Francisco_Museum_of_Art), San Francisco, California<ref name="Oakland Tribune-1942" />
* 1974, solo retrospective exhibition, [Oakland Museum of California](/source/Oakland_Museum_of_California), Oakland, California<ref name="The Independent-1974" />

=== Group exhibitions ===
* 1953, ''The Ruins'', group exhibition, Record Shop, 3213 Central Ave. NE, [Taos, New Mexico](/source/Taos%2C_New_Mexico); including artists Spohn, Alfred Rogoway, [Beatrice Mandelman](/source/Beatrice_Mandelman), [Dorothy Brett](/source/Dorothy_Brett), Louise Ganthiers and [Arthur Jacobson](/source/Arthur_Jacobson)<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 12, 1953 |title=Record Shop Brings Show From 'The Ruins' of Taos |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-record-shop-brings-s/177706444/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=Albuquerque Journal |pages=13 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref>
* 1995, ''Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California Art, 1934–1957'', group exhibition, [Oakland Museum of California](/source/Oakland_Museum_of_California), Oakland, California; including artists Spohn, [Helen Lundeberg](/source/Helen_Lundeberg), [Lorser Feitelson](/source/Lorser_Feitelson), [Adaline Kent](/source/Adaline_Kent), [Wolfgang Paalen](/source/Wolfgang_Paalen), [Salvador Dalí](/source/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD), [Man Ray](/source/Man_Ray), [Ruth Bernhard](/source/Ruth_Bernhard), [John Gutmann](/source/John_Gutmann), [Edward Weston](/source/Edward_Weston), [Knud Merrild](/source/Knud_Merrild)<ref>Dalkey, Victoria (March 12, 1995). "California through surrealism's eyes". ''[The Sacramento Bee](/source/The_Sacramento_Bee)''. p. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-california-through-su/177706683/ 156], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee/177706758/ 157]. Retrieved 2025-07-29.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/clay-spohn-papers-9468/biographical-note Clay Spohn papers, circa 1862-1985], from [Archives of American Art](/source/Archives_of_American_Art), Smithsonian Institution

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spohn, Clay}}
Category:1898 births
Category:1977 deaths
Category:20th-century American male artists
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:American abstract artists
Category:Artists from New York City
Category:Artists from San Francisco
Category:Artists from Taos, New Mexico
Category:Art Students League of New York alumni
Category:California College of the Arts alumni
Category:Federal Art Project artists
Category:San Francisco Art Institute alumni
Category:San Francisco Art Institute faculty
Category:School of Visual Arts faculty
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clay Spohn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Spohn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Spohn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.