Works from the Estate of Dr. Constance E. Clayton

Swann Galleries is honored to be presenting a group of artworks in our October 3 auction from the estate of Dr. Constance E. Clayton (1933-2022). Lots 28-48 includes a group from her significant collection of African American Art featuring landscapes and still life paintings, including works by Aaron Douglas, Henry Bozeman Jones, Edward L. Loper, Sr., Charles Ethan Porter and Louis B. Sloan. In Dr. Clayton’s distinguished career as a national leader in education, her work was centered on improving the educational opportunities for students and stressed the importance of African American art and culture. In addition, Dr. Clayton committed herself to furthering the presence of African American artists and scholars within the art institutions of Philadelphia.

Dr. Constance Elaine Clayton, born on October 23, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA, was the only child of Willabell Harris Clayton and Levie Clayton. Dr. Clayton’s mother and maternal grandmother were deeply committed to her education and a well-rounded upbringing: she engaged in many arts, church, local and national government, and community activities. Her tightly-knit family supported her growth; her mother was the most important person in her life and taught her many valuable life lessons. Dr. Clayton pursued music, learning piano and the cello. She was an active member of St. Paul’s Baptist Church in North Philadelphia, where her mother was the pianist. She distinguished herself as a high achiever in school. She was selected to meet Eleanor Roosevelt during Mrs. Roosevelt’s visit to Philadelphia, delivering the welcome address on behalf of the city and its school children.

From early on in Clayton’s life she was surrounded by family and friends who were artists and collectors. Her aunt created still life paintings that hung in her home. A close childhood friend was Rae Alexander Minter, whose great-uncle was Henry Ossawa Tanner. Clayton’s mother also nurtured her interest in art with frequent visits to Philadelphia’s local art museums. These experiences helped develop her love of art, and interest in collecting works by African American artists. She graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and pursued undergraduate and master’s studies in education at Temple University. Dr. Clayton continued to further her education, earning two doctorates, one in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Rockefeller Scholar.

Dr. Clayton achieved historic milestones as the first female and first African American Superintendent of Public Schools in Philadelphia, overseeing what was, at the time, the fifth-largest school system in the nation. She authored the first Curriculum Guide for African American Studies in Philadelphia Public Schools and conducted regular teacher training in this field. Hailed as the “preeminent educator in the country,” Dr. Clayton’s contributions, dedication to students, and support in their academic pursuits were recognized nationally. She was the first African American woman to have a professorship named after her at an Ivy League institution—the Constance E. Clayton Professorship in Urban Education was established at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in 1992. She received honorary doctorate degrees from 17 colleges and universities, and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education also honored her with the Dr. Constance E. Clayton Lecture Series.

Beyond her contributions to the Philadelphia School District, Dr. Clayton served in various roles, including as the Eastern Regional Director of the Women’s Bureau of the US Department of Labor, and in academia as a member of the faculty of the School of Public Health at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Interim Dean of the school of Public Health and Hahnemann University until her retirement. She served on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and was the founder and chair of the Museum’s African American Collections Committee which worked to build the collection of African American artists at the museum. She also established the Clayton Fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to provide positions in education and training in curatorial studies with the Association of Art Museum Curators.

Dr. Clayton made significant gifts to both the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. In recognition of Dr. Clayton’s Clayton large group of artworks gifted to the Schomburg Center in 2015, the arts and artifacts division presented the 2019 exhibition A Labor of Love: The Art Collection of Dr. Constance E. Clayton. In 2020, similarly, the PAFA recognized Dr. Clayton’s 2019 generous gift to their institution with their exhibition Awakened in You: The Collection of Dr. Constance E. Clayton.