Marsh with Two Herons

Artist/Maker Clarence Joseph Tibado (American, 1920 – 2014)

Date1953

MediumPastel on paper

DimensionsComposition: 53 × 67.9 cm (20 7/8 × 26 3/4 in.) Mat: 66 × 81 cm (26 × 31 7/8 in.) Frame: 29 × 35 × 1 1/2 in. (73.7 × 88.9 × 3.8 cm)

Credit LineThe Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection of Hamilton College

Object number1971.20

Not on view

DescriptionMarsh with two cranes in the foreground, likely in Florida, where the artist was living at the time. Seminole men navigate dugout canoes with poles in the background. Clarence Joseph Tibado was born in South Dakota in 1920. He and his family spent time in Michigan before moving to Florida, in search of a better future during the peak of the Roaring '20s. Once the Great Depression hit, the Tibado family struggled monetarily. Wealthy Floridians from the Mountain Lake resort, however, began to take notice of Clarence's artistic talent and commissioned artwork from him at a young age. As such, he was able to attend art school to study commercial art. Tibado served in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the U.S.S. Pensacola CA24, spending four years in the Pacific campaign. He was wounded at the Battle of Iwo Jima and received an honorable discharge. Tibado chronicled various battles in his artwork. The series of paintings now resides at the Smithsonian. Also during this time, Tibado began to have spiritual visions, which continued throughout his life. The visions inspired his culminating religious artwork, "The Divine Command." Clarence Tibado married wealthy Florida socialite Josephine Yarnell, who was thirty-five years his senior. As a nontraditional couple, they resided happily at Casa de Josephina in Lake Wales, Florida until Josephine passed away in 1968. Clarence then vacated the villa. He spent his remaining years traveling the country to tend the Tibado family business and to promote his painting, "The Divine Command."

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