America

Marriage and move to Europe

In 1939, aware of the imminent threat of German invasion, Klinghoffer and her family left the Netherlands, stopping in London briefly before leaving for America. Some of her artwork, left in a storage unit along with some of the family’s furniture, was later stolen and assumed destroyed by the Nazis. Although the move saved their family, as many of their Jewish neighbours in Holland were murdered, transitioning to American life was difficult. Klinghoffer didn’t like New York at first, finding it loud, impolite, and impersonal. But things improved: she valued the city’s diversity and found subjects from all walks of life, continuing her practice as before.

However, her work progressively suffered from the post-war shift from an interest in figurative to abstract art. Although she held some solo exhibitions in 1941, 1951 and 1958, she found it hard to secure many more in her later years, and her popularity declined.

‘My quarrel with abstractionism is its denial of an existing harmony in terms of humanity. It is to abstractionists as if we are floating in a nebulous something. They reject 'our' world, have no longer faith in the past and wish to fashion a new world - a world that cannot possibly hurt them because they think they are its Masters. But it is a sterile world without vista, without hope.’

- Klinghoffer on abstract art in a radio interview with New York’s WNYC, 1951

Park Avenue, North from 24th Street - 1930

Image credit: Geographic Guide

Klinghoffer painted a number of celebrated sitters, including Sir Winston Churchill, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Vivien Leigh. This striking portrait of friend and fellow artist Orovida, a member of the Pissarro painting dynasty, depicts her against a playful background of still life objects, referencing the kinds of objects Orovida liked to include in her own paintings.

Erik Laurence Grandson of Clara Klinghoffer

Erik and Barbara, 1965

Oil on canvas

Private collection. © The artist’s estate

Oil on canvas

Private collection. © The artist’s estate

Later life and travels

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Klinghoffer and her husband traveled frequently, spending a considerable amount of time in Mexico where her husband was writing a travel guide. She found Mexico a refreshing change from the difficult art scene in New York, with its vibrant landscapes and local people whom she could paint. Her final show was in the Mexican/North AmericanCulturalInstitute,MexicoCity,in1969.