Florence McClung

Florence McClung (July 12, 1894 – 1992) was an American painter, printmaker, and art teacher. She was the daughter of Charles W. and Minerva (McCoy) White and was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 12, 1894. She moved to Dallas, Texas, as a child with her family in 1899 and lived there until her death. She later was associated with the Dallas Nine, an influential group of Dallas-based artists.

Early life and education

She was born Florence Elliott White in St. Louis. She attended local schools and became deeply immersed in music, studying for a career as a concert pianist.

In the early 1920s in Dallas, McClung studied pastels with Frank Reaugh, working next with artists Olin Travis and Alexandre Hogue.[1]

Career

She painted for periods of time in Taos, New Mexico between 1928 and 1932, joining a circle that included Hogue, Mabel Dodge Luhan and Tony Luhan and the Taos Society of Artists.[2] The town was a gathering place for artists and writers of many backgrounds, including English writer D.H. Lawrence and his wife.

In addition to making art, in Dallas McClung became active in artists' associations and worked to promote recognition of women artists. She was an active member of the Printmakers Guild in the 1940s and 50s (it was renamed as Texas Printmakers in 1952). This guild was made up of a small group of Texas women artists, who founded it after being excluded because of their gender from the Lone Star Printmakers of Dallas, headed by Hogue and Jerry Bywaters. In 1945, she was elected the Director of the Texas Fine Arts Association, now known as the Texas Visual Arts Association. In 1946, she was elected to the board of directors of the Southern States Art League.[3]

McClung's later works were mostly serigraphs. As she approached her early sixties in the mid-1950s, she began to lose her sight and decreased her productivity. She may also have created fewer works because it became difficult for her to "reconcile her love for rural countryside with the growing urban character of Dallas".[3]She eventually became blind in her right eye following an operation in 1986.

Her art always remained deeply linked to the Texas identity. According to a review of a 1941 exhibit by her: "Underlying the work and reflected in all its manifestations is a clearly defined purpose: to make a vivid, permanent record of those phases of southwestern life which even now are disappearing".[4] Before she died, McClung gave several of her paintings to the Dallas Museum of Art.[5]

Personal life

McClung appears to have married, as her last name changed. This fact should be noted, as well as whether she had any children.

References
  1. MCCLUNG, FLORENCE ELLIOTT WHITE | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
  2. Independent Spirits, Women Painters of the American West, 1890-1945, Edited by Patricia Trenton, pp 189-191
  3. Florence McClung: A Southwestern Vision, Kimberley Summer Haley, 1995, pp 56-57
  4. "Solo Exhibit, Hobby Show To Be Viewed", Dallas Morning News, 1941/05/11
  5. Florence McClung Online
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