About Tom Clark, California Portrait Artist

Tom Clark’s paintings combine principles of classical Renaissance realism with a fresh, modern expression. He was born in Texas, has a degree in art from the University of Illinois, and has resided for many years in the Carmel and San Francisco areas of Northern California. He also frequently visits Los Angeles, and is available throughout California and beyond for portrait or landscape paintings by commission.

Commissions and collectors of his work include:

• Nevada Governor, Michael O’ Callaghan

• William Clay Ford, Jr, Chairman, Ford Motor Company

• United States Senator, Diane Feinstein

• Gerald Thomas, Director, Grand Central Galleries, New York City (the gallery that represented John Singer Sargent in America)

• James Rothschild, financier

The portrait of Gov. O’Callaghan is the official state portrait and hangs in the Nevada State Capitol Building. The portrait of William Ford hangs in Ford Company headquarters next to other life-sized portraits of previous Ford family chairmen Henry Ford, son Edsel, and grandson Henry II.

Some written comments on file include:

"The portraits greatly surpassed our expectations, as they captured our daughters as no photograph has ever done. In addition, they are beautiful works of art."
—William Ford

"I was delighted with the portrait."
—Senator Diane Feinstein

Clark also paints landscapes and still lifes, and Butterfield & Butterfield Appraisers (now Bonhams) considered his landscape painting to be of such quality as to feature it in their California Paintings Catalogue, one of the few living artists alongside works by such past masters as Thomas Hill and William Keith.