William H Calfee was born and raised in Washington, DC. He studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and learned sculptural techniques from Carl Milles at the Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. He also studied at the Catholic University and the Corcoran School of Art. During the 1930s he was employed by the Resettlement Administration in Tennessee and received commissions for a number of public murals. In the 1940s he taught art at the Phillips Memorial Gallery art school. In this he helped American University develop its program in fine arts. He later joined the American University faculty, becoming chair of its art department from 1946-1954. With other members of the American University faculty, Calfee organized the Jefferson Place Gallery in 1957. This gallery became a showplace for contemporary art in Washington and an exhibition space for Abdstract Expressionists from New York and modern artists from Washington.Conferee, 1982Landscape with Figures, 1974
Critical Analysis
Calfee was primarily a sculptor, but he created many paintings and murals, and taught a generation of students at American University. Through his teaching he promulgated the principles of Duncan Phillips, which helped spearhead the development of modern art in America.
Murals
Selbyville, Delaware - Post Office: Chicken Farm
Bel Air, Maryland - Post Office: First Performance of Edwin Booth
Hampton, Virginia - Phoebus Post Office: Chesapeake Fishermen
Harrisonburg, Virginia - Federal Courthouse: Country Fair, Trading, Courthouse Square
Petersburg, Virginia - Post Office: Agricultural Scenes in Virginia
