The State Historical Society of Missouri
Famous Missouri Artists
Keith Crown (1918 – 2010)
Keith Crown, nationally renowned painter, educator, and arts advocate, died on January 31, 2010, at the age of ninety-one. Crown had a reputation as one of America’s premier watercolorists, with works exhibited in over one hundred galleries and museums throughout his career. For the last twenty-five years, he made Missouri his home. During this time, he and his wife were good friends and supporters of The State Historical Society of Missouri, donating three beautiful paintings to the art collection. The institution shared these and other artworks with the public last year in the exhibition Keith Crown: A Retrospective (June 6, 2008, to February 6, 2009). This show featured artwork in the Society’s collection as well as works lent by the artist’s wife, Patricia Dahlman Crown, and other collectors. Visitors had the opportunity to view examples of paintings, drawings, prints and ceramics that the artist created over his sixty-year career. Although in poor health, Crown visited the exhibition several times.
Born May 27, 1918, in Keokuk, Iowa, Crown studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and served as a regimental artist with the U.S. Army during World War II. He provided artwork for Yank magazine and was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery. Much of Crown’s wartime art is in the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. After returning to the states, Crown took a position as professor of art at the University of Southern California, where he taught for thirty-five years. In 1983, he moved to Columbia, Missouri, and the landscape of the Show-Me State became a frequent subject of his artwork.
Crown’s life and art are the subjects of the monograph—Keith Crown Watercolors—by Sheldon Reich, published by the University of Missouri Press in 1986. Additional information is available at keithcrownpaintings.home.mchsi.com.
