Biography

Clyde Leon Keller was born in Salem, Oregon on February 22, 1872. He studied at Willamette College and for a while was a cartoonist for the Oregon Statesman in his native city. He studied art in Munich with Bridges and with Knowles in Boston. From 1896 to 1906, Keller lived in San Francisco where he studied painting with Ernst W. Christmas while working as a cartoonist for the Examiner. Keller lost many of his early art works in the earthquake and fire of 1906. Returning to Oregon, he established an art store in Portland, where he was known as "Keller, the Art Man." He continued to make sketching trips to California. He died in Cannon Beach, Oregon on August 7, 1962. 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. He was a member of the Oregon Society of Artists. On December 9, 1929, the Society incorporated, with Clyde Leon Keller, as Vice President. The Society met at his art studio on SW Washington Street near 13th Avenue for many years. He later became the third president of the Society, and did much to see that the control of the Society was kept in the artists' hands. Keller exhibited at the Great Crystal Palace, New York City, in 1924; Meier and Frank, Portland, 1937; Oregon-California Artists, 1946-47. Clyde Leon Keller's paintings maybe seen at the Elk's Club, Liberty Theater and Press Club, all in Portland, Oregon.