Vern Carver
Vern Carver was born on May 25, 1927 in Rayne, Louisiana and moved shortly after to Minneapolis, Minnesota. One of seven children, Vern grew up in Minnesota and upstate New York where his father was a flour miller. Carver attended the University of Minnesota from 1945 to 1947. He then transferred to the Walker Art School where he studied sculpture with Evelyn Raymond until 1950. Carver's sculpture was exhibited in many local competitive shows including the Minnesota State Fair, 1947, the First Minneapolis Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, 1949, the Walker Art Center, 1950 and 1951 and Minneapolis Institute of Arts Biennial in 1954.
During these early years, Vern worked as a draftsmsn at Braniff Airlines and as a techinical illustrator with the Baker-Lull corporation. In 1954, he went to work as a manager of the custom framing department of the Bintliff Moulding Company on Central Avenue in Minneapolis. The department moved to 8th Street and LaSalle Avenue in 1956 under the "Bintliff Studio" name. In 1961, he purchased the business and renamed it "The Frame Shop". Carver later renamed the business "Vern Carver Frame Shop" and added a gallery in 1968. The shop and gallery prospered until a tragic fire destroyed the business on Christmas Eve of 1978. He reopened at 10th and LaSalle in the spring of 1979. A decade later with thoughts of retirement, Vern sold the business to his sons Christopher and Jonathan Carver. The gallery is now Vern Carver & Beard Art Galleries.
Forty years after he began his studies, Carver returned to sculpting in the 1990s, working again with Evelyn Raymond at her studio until her death in 1998. Carver currently continues to work at his studio in Minneapolis.
 Standing Figure
(detail)
| Standing Figure
terra cotta with bronze finish
6 x 5 x 14
$900
With Child
(detail)
terra cotta with bronze finish
5 x 5 x 14-1/2
$750
|
