IN MEMORY OF MY UNCLE

GEORGE WILLIAM CARR
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ARTIST
(24 October 1909--21 June 1991)

by William R. Carr

France -- WWII

George's attractive wife, Gertrude, with oil portrait by her husband.

George in his home studio. Taken from The Electrical
Worker's Journal of February, 1953.

This oil painting entitled "Clearing the Right of Way,"
was featured on the cover of the February, 1953 issue
of The Electrical Worker's Journal. Uncle George was
working for the R.E.A. as a line-crew driver at the time on
William's Hill in November of 1951. An unexpected early
snowfall turned the fall landscape into a winter scene in a
matter of only a few hours as the men worked clearing the
right-of-way.

Also featured in the Journal was this painting of a Steamboat at the Shawneetown Levee.

The cover of the December, 1952 issue of The Southeastern
Light, the Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative Magazine
-- forerunner of REN and later ILLINOIS Country Living magazines.
The watercolor is entitled "The Wire Stringers."

Watercolor of "The Old Gibbs Place"

This house was located on the east side of State Route 34 about a mile south of Rudement. George Carr's home was almost opposite the Gibbs' place, and just to the north. Andrew Duncan and his family lived there in the '50s. Later, Lawny Hayden lived there.

George Carr (left), presenting his life-sized oil painting
of Harry (Bull) Taylor to the Harrisburg Township High
School. Bull Taylor was the principle of the high school for
several decades. From the cover of the Oct. 1953 issue of
The Southeastern Light. When the proud legacy of "Bull
Taylor" became somewhat politically incorrect, the painting
was donated to the Saline County Museum where it is now on display.

George Carr was a man of energy, ambition, and much talent. Though he painted throughout his life, he never made a living at it. He is best remembered by many in Harrisburg as being a rather strict, but highly respected, junior high industrial arts teacher. His wife, Gertrude, was also a teacher at the same school. True artistic genius usually goes under-appreciated and underpaid in a world and era in which artistic genius is more apt to be measured in meaningless scratches and blots. In spite of this, George Carr left a legacy of watercolor and oil paintings of rural Southern Illinois, old homesteads, country bridges, and farm buildings, which will be enjoyed by many for generations to come.
    George passed away in 1991 after a long and fruitful career. He shared his life with his wife, Gertrude, who passed away in August of 2003.

William R. Carr

George Carr Paintings Gallery

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