Carl Benton Compton (1905-1981) was a painter, sculptor, ceramist, and lithographer who specialized in surrealist and regionalist art styles throughout the Southwest.

Born in 1905 in Estherville, Iowa, Carl Compton devoted a great deal of his life to studying art in some of the most prominent universities and under the famed artists Emil Antoine Bourdelle and Boris Israelevich Anisfeld. In 1929, Compton graduated with a Bachelors of Art from Notre Dame, and while on a graduation trip through Europe, studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Colarossi the following year. Compton would continue his tour of art institutes and study for another twenty years including schools like the Art Institute of Chicago (1935), Southwestern University (1936-1943), La Escula Universitaria de Belle Artes (1943), Del Miguel de Allende (1943), and Louisiana State University (1944).

While at Southwestern, Carl Compton and his wife Mildred took multiple trips to Mexico where they fell in love with the vibrant cultures and colors of the country. Compton’s travels there deeply affected his artwork and he gradually became extremely knowledgeable on the Taruscan people, whom he would paint prodigiously throughout the years. In his entire career, Compton’s work was showcased in over forty exhibits and continues to be held in permanent collections at The Heritage Center, San Diego and Harvard University.

Rather than be content with simply learning himself, Carl Compton served the art community through teaching. Through 1936-1943, the artist worked as a professor at Southwestern University and later became the head of their newly developed art department. In 1944 the Comptons relocated to Denton where he served as a professor and Director of the Institute for Inter-American Studies at the North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) for twenty-five years. Compton was a member of multiple associations in his life, including the Texas Sculptors Group and the Texas Archaeological Society. Carl Compton served as an editor to “The Texas Art Teacher” publication and even led an archaeological expedition at Lake Lewisville to examine ancient hearth sites.

In 1981, Carl Benton Compton passed away to join his wife of forty-one years and fellow artist Mildred Compton. Today their family legacy is carried on by their granddaughter, Eden Compton, and her successful works as an artist in pastels.