Clivette modeled himself with Ashcan School artists (including Robert Henri) utilizing realist subjects. Clivette used the Chiaroscuro style in both light and dark juxtapositions and loose but forceful brushwork.[2] This technique links him and the Ashcan school.[11] These were similar to Robert Henri and other realist painters. Clivette was well known for his Vamp series which portray show-business ladies in Burlesque attires.[11] Contrasting these Vamp paintings Clivette painted numerous Native American portraits. Clivette inevitably moved away from this realistic look to a more distorted fashion in the vein of Chaïm Soutine. Over time he drifted away from realism toward expressionism. His later work turned toward figurativism, and eventually becoming abstract.
Clivette created his expressionist works painting with confidence with many strokes in succession; he utilized his skills he learned as an acrobat to move the brushes with precision. In his grander works, the marks looked like they were created using his whole body. This style was one of his greatest strengths.[12][13] Over time other New York artists such as Franz Kline, picked up on this new type of performance painting to make their mark. During the 1920s New York art locale, Clivette was respected and his art was well received.[14][10] George S. Hellman writes that Clivette was the greatest American Painter ever after seeing Clivette's "Outriding the Blizzard" painting.[2][15] Hellman was so convinced of Clivette's genius that he purchased a number of paintings from him and encouraged other accomplished New York painters — Maurice Sterne, Paul Manship, Edward Bruce — to purchase paintings from Clivette as well.[2] Sterne himself was amazed at this unknown artist who he thought painted self-portraits similarly to Paul Cézanne but with less control.[16]
To this point is a reference from Henry Rankin Poore's book "Modern Art, Why, What and How" which talks about Clivette's impact including this Paris show. He begins, "Although France may claim the credit of introducing modern art to the world it is not generally known that before Paul Cézanne had sponsored cubism and Henri Matisse freedom, an American citizen was working out kindred theories. Merton Clivette, although of distant French extraction, has been Americanized through generations since 1630."[17]
Additionally it notes, "Only recently an invitation came for a large exhibition of his works in Paris, and had those pictures been seen there when first produced, Henri Matisse would have had to acknowledge that his idea had already been preempted. The French Government, through its Director of Fine Arts, selected an example from this exhibition which is destined for Luxembourg. The critical press of Paris extolled the newcomer from across the sea. It is quite proper then that the makers of Modern Art should move up and accord Clivette a place beside them."[17]
Clivette joins six other painters as the only American given a special article in the book, "Selections from the Collection of George S. Hellman", along with Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Derain, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Selected paintings include Rushing Waters, Flowers in a Pot, Still Life, Walt Whitman, Indian in a Canoe, Toucan, Seascape, Small Seascape, and Sunset among others.[18]
