Clint McCall - Inherited Legacy

I originally invited Clint McCall on The Artful Painter because I wanted to talk about the preservation of Edgar Alwin Payne's legacy—and particularly the extraordinary work his father, DeWitt McCall, did to preserve Payne's work and ideas. But like many things I start to explore, things took an interesting, unexpected turn. What really surprised me was Clint himself. I was struck by Clint’s humility and modesty. Often I would ask Clint a question, and he would humble defer to his father as the real expert and authority. He readily acknowledges that his father was the real art expert. As we talked I began to realize that Clint’s story is just as important as that of his father.

You see, art wasn't in Clint McCall’s wheelhouse. Even though he as a child was thoroughly exposed to the art world by his father and his father’s gallery DeRu’s Fine Art, he chose to follow a different path. Initially, he had no intention of following his father into the art business. He spent his career in law enforcement on rose through the ranks. Indeed, he could write a book on his many exploits and accomplishments in law enforcement!

Clint’s father was unexpectedly hospitalized in 2020. Sadly his father did not survive. Upon his father’s sudden death, Clint inherited an extraordinary legacy built by his father over the course of several decades. He could not turn his back on what his father had built. So, Clint now found himself becoming the steward of his father’s legacy. That remarkable legacy included all of the paintings, books, photography, and detailed records, and books that DeWitt McCall had gathered and curated. For more than five decades, DeWitt McCall was deeply involved in the preservation, restoration, authentication, and promotion of Early California Impressionist art – including Edgar Payne. His relationship with Edgar Payne's daughter, Evelyn Payne Hatcher, eventually led him to become the representative of the Payne estate and the steward of Payne's influential book, Composition of Outdoor Painting. For Clint, it was a huge, daunting job! However, Clint quietly stepped into that role, not by pretending to be his father, but by figuring out how to preserve what his father built.

In this episode, my conversation with Clint ranges from his father DeWitt McCall’s beginnings as a framer and craftsman to his work as a restorer and art dealer; from Clint's childhood memories of the De Ru's Fine Art gallery to his first meeting with Evelyn Payne Hatcher; and from the