A pair of pretty still life paintings by Oliver Clare. The first painting features a mossy bird’s nest amidst hawthorn blossom whilst the second depicts raspberries, apples and a gooseberry and plum.

Oliver Clare was born in Birmingham in 1853, the son of the flower artist George Clare (1839-1890) and his wife Elizabeth Bowen. His brother Vincent Clare (1856-1917) also became an artist and both would have received tuition from their father who influenced their style and subject matter. At the age of 18 he enlisted as a soldier in the Kings Own regiment, but gave this up to become a full time artist. Like his father, Clare specialised in still life paintings, containing fruit and garden flowers, often on mossy banks.

Sometime after 1871, he moved to London where he married Emma Mary Webb on 1 September, 1873. The couple lived at 9 Dukes Road, Brentford with their first 3 children. Whilst in London he began exhibiting at Suffolk Street in 1876 and the Royal Academy in 1883. However, it was with the provincial galleries that he exhibited more prolifically with 18 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists with, 6 at the Manchester City Art Gallery and 3 at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Although he’d achieved some success, he made the decision to move to America in 1889 where he worked as an artist. By 1891, he had returned to England moving back to Birmingham with his family. He lived at 190 Witton Road and later 11 Willis Street, Birmingham where he spent the rest of his life. He had a studio in Livery Street but spent a lot of his time outdoors with his dog where he was able to observe and sketch the British hedgerows. As well as paintings, he was also commissioned to produce a series of postcards and posters for the Pitman Health Food Co. Clare died at Birmingham on 13 April, 1927.

Clare’s paintings often depict ripe fruit or fresh blossom nestling on a bank with a hint of dew, and are always well finished with brushstrokes that are invisible to the eye. Examples of his work can be found at the Bolton Museum, Birmingham Museum, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Llandudno Museum, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Torre Abbey Museum and the Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

© Benton Fine Art