Clyde Leon Keller  (1872-1962)

Clyde Leon Keller was born in Salem, Oregon on February 22, 1872. There he studied at Willamette College and was a cartoonist for the Oregon Statesman. He later studied art in Munich and in Boston with Bridges and Knowles.

From 1896 to 1906, Keller was in San Francisco working as a cartoonist for the Examiner and studying painting under Ernst W. Christmas. Many of Keller’s early works were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco fire. Back in Portland he opened an art supply and frame store that lasted from 1907 till 1936. In 1929 the Oregon Society of Artists was formed with Keller as vice president. He later became third president. The society often met at his studio. Keller has a very long list of exhibitions and prizes. Some of the more prestigious are: Panama-Pacific International Exposition San Francisco 1915, Great Crystal Palace, New York City, 1924; Portland Women’s Club 1926, Meier and Frank, Portland, 1937; Oregon-California Artists, 1946-47.
During his career he did about 4,500 paintings which won more than 250 prizes. Both Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt were among his prestigious customers. Clyde Leon Keller's paintings maybe seen at the Oregon Historical Society and many private collections in Portland, Oregon.
He died in Cannon Beach, Oregon on August 7, 1962.

Paintings

Falling Leaves Sauvies Island 1943