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| Clarence F. Underwood - 1905 |
Clarence Frederick Underwood [1871-1929] was one of the leading illustrators and commercial artists of his generation, providing work to a range of books as well as
highly circulated publications such as
Harpers,
McClure's,
The Saturday Evening Post,
LIFE, and
The Ladies’ World. Although born in Jamestown, NY, he resided in Meadville after his parents opened a drug store on the corner of Chestnut and East Avenue. Here Clarence, along with his younger siblings, Alice, Ida, Belva, and Frederick (all born in Meadville) would grow up.
Training
Clarence attended both the public schools as well as
Allegheny College, but art was his ticket to the larger world. Leaving Meadville he received formal training at the
Art Students League in New York, then London, and later at the
Julian Academy in Paris as a pupil of
Jean-Paul Laurens, Benjamin Constant and William Bouguereau, in 1896. Soon after leaving the Academy, Clarence would choose for himself a career as an illustrator.
