John Clendening

John Clendening of Annapolis, Maryland, passed away on December 12, 2023 at home with his wife, Eileen Fogarty. John was a loving husband who shared his dedication to art with Eileen as they traveled together to all the great European and American art museums. He is the proud grandfather of Benjamin and Joshua and is survived by his sons Gregory and Shaun and predeceased by his son Jeffrey.

An enormously talented painter, John’s lifelong passion was his art. He worked in oils, watercolor and charcoal and has been exhibited at the National Air and Space Museum, the State Department, NASA, Villanova, the Pentagon and the Marine Corps Art Museum and recognized nationally by Oil Painters of America. Trained at the Corcoran School of Art, he began a successful career at the Smithsonian Institution as a designer at the National Museum of American History where his work was awarded by S. Dillon Ripley, The Secretary of the Smithsonian. He went on to become the Chief of Design and Exhibits for the National Air and Space Museum.

During the Vietnam War, John was selected by the United States Marine Corps to become their 42nd official Civilian Combat Artist. His art is on permanent display at the Marine Corps Museum, the Pentagon and the Kennedy Space Center. Most recently, his artwork has been published in NASA and the Exploration of Space.

Upon his retirement from the Smithsonian, John became a sought-after landscape and still life artist known for his beautiful paintings of the California and the Maine coasts as well as still life portraits of vibrant fruits on vendor displays. His works were displayed in galleries in New York, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Washington, D.C., Rehoboth and Carmel.

His loss is keenly felt by all those who knew and loved him.

If you would like to honor John with a donation, please consider the Gary Jobson Professorship of Medical Oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center.