Paul Montem Clarke was born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1915. He immigrated to England in the mid-1930s to pursue further education in the arts. Clarke was a versatile painter and the Head of the Department of Foundation Studies in Art and Design at North Staffordshire Polytechnic.
Artist Paul Montem Clarke was born in Nova Scotia, Canada on 21 June 1915. He studied at Watford School of Art and Croydon School of Art between 1935 and 1939, most likely immigrating to England in the mid 1930s to further his education in the arts. Before his military service, he worked as a graphic designer in the printing industry for three years. During the war, he served with the Royal Horse and East African Artillery. Following the Second World War he continued his education and enrolled in the School of Painting at the Royal College of Art, where he earned his diploma, receiving a silver medal for Special Distinction in Painting.
Clarke’s practice demonstrates versatility, spanning abstraction, industrial scenes, and social realism, reflecting both formal experimentation and a keen engagement with everyday life. The Merry Wives (1949, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery) adopts a figurative, narrative-driven approach, capturing a moment of social interaction with a focus on character and atmosphere. The warm, muted tones and loose yet precise brushwork evoke a sense of intimacy, portraying a quintessentially British scene of companionship over tea. In the Bottle Oven (1960, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery) exemplifies a more expressive and textural technique, depicting workers in a pottery factory, with thick, impasto brushstrokes. The composition, dominated by earthy reds and blues, conveys both the physicality of labour and the atmospheric intensity of an industrial setting. By contrast, in Abstract Circles (1960s, Keele University Art Collection), he employs a geometric, hard-edged approach, using a structured grid of interlocking circular forms to explore optical effects. The interplay of colour and form creates a sense of rhythm and movement, demonstrating an engagement with Op Art and abstraction. Some of his other abstract pieces, such as the undated Large Geometric Abstract immediately bring to mind the shapes and hard edges of the English Vorticists in their energetic, almost mechanical rhythm and the interlocking geometric forms that create a sense of movement and fragmentation.
Clarke exhibited at New English Art Club (NEAC), United Artists group, and Keele University, as well as in numerous provincial galleries, including the Stoke-on-Trent Art Gallery, which holds several of his works in its permanent collection. He was also a member of the Society of Staffordshire Artists and most likely regularly exhibited with the group. However, specific details of these exhibitions are not readily available. In addition to his art practice, Clarke worked in art education. He was the Head of the Department of Foundation Studies in Art and Design at North Staffordshire Polytechnic. Paul Montem Clarke died in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England in 1999. His works can be found in several public collections in the UK public domain, including Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and Keele University Art Collection. Although some information on Clarke is available, details about his life and work remain limited. The Ben Uri Research Unit welcomes any contributions from researchers or family members who may have further knowledge.