The art of thomas sarlo

About the artist

Thomas Cleve Sarlo (b. July 26, 1945) is an American painter and mixed-media artist based in Little Rock, Arkansas. A graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied under renowned regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton, Sarlo developed a lifelong interest in the relationship between color, movement, and narrative in American life.Over the decades, his work has spanned painting, sculpture, and colored-pencil drawing, resulting in a diverse and accomplished body of work marked by both technical discipline and experimental curiosity.Though largely working outside the national spotlight, Sarlo’s art has occasionally surfaced in cultural lore. In a 2010 Arkansas Times “Observer” column, a large painting signed Sarlo—depicting two boys crossing the Arkansas State Capitol grounds—was famously discovered abandoned behind a Little Rock dumpster before finding a new home. The episode highlighted the quiet persistence of an artist whose work continues to move through the world in unexpected ways.(Aside: Early in his life, Sarlo lived for a time in a small shack said to have been built by Jackson Pollock himself—a curious footnote in a life devoted to creative exploration.)Sarlo remains active, producing paintings and drawings characterized by bold composition, layered color, and an abiding respect for craftsmanship.

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