Artist Biography
Claggett D. Spangler, a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, was an American artist known for his bucolic landscape paintings. Raised in a prominent local family, Spangler’s artistic talents were recognized at a young age. He received his early artistic training in Philadelphia and set sail for Europe in 1878. He studied in Munich for two years and painted in Rome and Venice. After his travels, he settled in his hometown and opened his own studio in the Hagerstown Trust Building, where he worked and gave painting lessons.
Spangler’s enduring artistic contribution is his record of country life in Washington County, Maryland.
Claggett D. Spangler, a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, was an American artist known for his bucolic landscape paintings. Raised in a prominent local family, Spangler’s artistic talents were recognized at a young age. He received his early artistic training in Philadelphia and set sail for Europe in 1878. He studied in Munich for two years and painted in Rome and Venice. After his travels, he settled in his hometown and opened his own studio in the Hagerstown Trust Building, where he worked and gave painting lessons.
Spangler’s enduring artistic contribution is his record of country life in Washington County, Maryland. His subject matter drew on pleasant, light-hearted motifs such as children playing, sweeping fields, and quaint homesteads. His confident yet understated approach to painting earned him praise from his community. His paintings were exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1883–84, and today are in the permanent collection of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. The museum held a retrospective exhibition of his work in 1969.
Claggett D. Spangler, a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, was an American artist known for his bucolic landscape paintings. Raised in a prominent local family, Spangler’s artistic talents were recognized at a young age. He received his early artistic training in Philadelphia and set sail for Europe in 1878. He studied in Munich for two years and painted in Rome and Venice. After his travels, he settled in his hometown and opened his own studio in the Hagerstown Trust Building, where he worked and gave painting lessons.
Spangler’s enduring artistic contribution is his record of country life in Washington County, Maryland. His subject matter drew on pleasant, light-hearted motifs such as children playing, sweeping fields, and quaint homesteads. His confident yet understated approach to painting earned him praise from his community. His paintings were exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1883–84, and today are in the permanent collection of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. The museum held a retrospective exhibition of his work in 1969.
