With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Howard E. Rackliffe
Painting/Drawing
1917 – 1987
- Biography/Description of Work
WPA artist and abstract painter born in New Britain. In high school, he decided to “devote full time to his self-development as a painter.” From 1933 to 1940 he resided in New Britain and followed interests in painting, poetry, piano, and “improvisational musical composition and modern dance performance.” He worked for the WPA Federal Arts Project in March and April 1941. He was self-taught as a painter, and this may have influenced the response of the WPA to his seventeen watercolors of landscapes and still life, thirteen of which were “Returned to the artist.” He did not let the rejection deter him and pursued his art, developing an abstract style which had elements in common with Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley and Milton Avery.
- Sources view
- WPA Art Inventory Project. CT State Library. [ http://wpa.cslib.org/index.php/542/rackliffe-howard-e/ ]
- Associated Resource(s)
- n/a