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Harvey T. Dunn, N.A. (1884-1952)
Harvey Dunn was born in a sod-house just off the main buffalo trace, south of Manchester in Dakota Territory. His preference to painting his native country of North & South Dakota came from an astute understanding of the land which he acquired while working on his father’s farm until the age of seventeen.
Dunn earned his art tuition by "sod-busting" for neighboring homesteaders. He decided he wanted to paint the beautiful and moving scenes around him. Studying art at Brookings, South Dakota, he received encouragement from a young art teacher named Ada B. Caldwell. Next, Dunn studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.
After two years of study at the Art Institute of Chicago, he was invited by Howard Pyle, then America’s foremost illustrator, to work at his school in Wilmington, Delaware, and at his summer school in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Dunn became deeply influenced by Pyle’s philosophy. Dunn said of Pyle, "His main purpose was to quicken our souls that we might render service to the majesty of simple things."
Dunn opened his own studio in 1906 and two years later married, having two children with Tulla Krebs. His career flourished; he became an illustrator of all the leading magazines and books, as well as a painter of murals and portraits specializing in Western subjects. During World War I he served as an official war artist depicting American forces in France. Twenty-four of these paintings are now in the Smithsonian Institution.
After the war Dunn and Charles S. Chapman conducted the Dunn School of Illustration in Leonia, New Jersey. He also taught at Grand Central School of Art. His pupils included Dean Cornwell, John Clymer, Gerard Delano, Arthur Mitchell, Bert Proctor, Jack Roberts, Harold Von Schmidt and Frank Street. In 1950 Dunn gave to South Dakota State College a collection of his paintings on prairie subjects.
Harvey Dunn’s work did not focus on the lusty life of the frontier, its far ranging hunters and explorers, its bad men and indians. Instead he focused on the God-fearing people who brought the bible and plow to areas like the Dakotas and Nebraska. However, in illustration his intent was to set the stage for the reader to imagine the story, versus describing the details as to control the mood. Dunn preached to his students to paint the epic rather than the incident. It was that quality in Dunn’s own work which made him one of the outstanding illustrators of his day.
This biography was submitted by Altermann Galleries
Harvey T. Dunn
Born: Manchester, South Dakota 1884
Died: Tenafly, New Jersey 1952
Important magazine illustrator of the prairie
Dunn was born in a sod house in the Red Stone Valley, Dakota Territory. Large and powerful, he earned his art tuition by “sod-busting” for neighboring homesteaders. After rural school he studied art in 1901 at State College, Brookings, the pupil of Ada Caldwell, before attending the Art Institute of Chicago 1902-04. On invitation from Howard Pyle, he studied at Chadds Ford 1904-06, becoming deeply influenced by Pyle’s philosophy. Dunn opened his own studio in Leonia, NJ in 1906, an immediate success as an illustrator. In WWI, Dunn was official artist with the AEF.
Dunn was prolific magazine illustrator specializing in Western subjects. He also taught at Grand Central School of Art. His pupils included Burt Procter, Von Schmidt, Delano, Dye, Shope, Clymer, Hal Stone, Tepper, Edmund F Ward, Frank Street, Jack Roberts, Robert Wagoner, Dean Cornwell. In 1950, Dunn gave to South Dakota State College a collection of his paintings on prairie subjects. The gift is commemorated on a roadside marker near Dunn’s boyhood home. A memorial art center was dedicated at the college to house “The Harvey Dunn Collection and Archives.”
The more popular paintings like The Prairie Is My Garden were reproduced for sale as prints. Dunn’s favorite subjects were the sod-busting pioneers, not the shoot-em-ups of Remington and Russell. He called the purpose of an illustration the setting of the stage for the reader to imagine the story. His intent was to select an incident not described in detail in the text so the illustration could control the mood. In painting, Dunn first established the darker tones of the design to provide the basic pattern for color values and contrasts. He taught that figure drawing started with the head, which had to be kept most interesting.
Resource: SAMUELS’ Encyclopedia of ARTISTS of THE AMERICAN WEST,
Peggy and Harold Samuels, 1985, Castle Publishing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This biography from the archives of AskART.com.
Dunn, Harvey Thomas(1884 1952)
Harvey Thomas Dunn is best known as an illustrator, painter, and muralist. Though based in the East, particularly New Jersey and New York, his native state of South Dakota remained the inspiration for his finest works, which were scenes of prairie life and toil. Born in 1884 in Manchester, in the Red Stone Valley of South Dakota, he was raised in a sod house on the prairie, where he lived with his parents until he was 17 years old. There Dunn, a large boy, devoted his time to farm chores, school, and his drawing.
During a year he spent at the South Dakota Agriculture College in 1901, his teacher Ada Caldwell, an influential South Dakota artist herself, recognized Dunns abilities. She encouraged him to continue his studies at the Chicago Art Institute, which he did, and Dunn always acknowledged the opportunities she opened to him. His tuition was earned by janitor work, odd jobs, and as a summer farm hand. His artistic talent was evident in his drawings, and he was able to convince one of Americas foremost illustrators of that time, Howard Pyle, to admit him to his classes at Wilmington and Chadds Ford.
Dunn was on his own by 1906, selling his art to the magazine markets of the day. With N.C. Wyeth as his best man, Dunn married in 1908. He left Wilmington after Pyle died in 1911, and moved to Leonia, New Jersey, where the art markets were more attractive. One his best clients became The Saturday Evening Post. Along with artist Charles Chapman, Dunn opened the Leonia School of Illustration in 1915, at the inspiration of Howard Pyle.
World War I caused a brief intermission of Dunns career. In 1917, at the age of 33, Dunn was one of eight artists chosen to serve as a graphic reporter on the front lines. This was despite his being past the age of military service. His efforts were fearless, and he filled his logs with profound mental and physical images of ruin. He returned to his private works after being discharged at wars end in 1919. Many of his military drawings are housed at the Smithsonian.
He moved to Tenefly, New Jersey the same year, building a large studio near his home. Feeling the compulsion to create a more lasting art, in addition to illustrations, Dunn accepted a commission by a New York department store 1925 to paint five mural-like panels for its 100th anniversary. In 1928, the American Legion Monthly magazine began featuring Dunns war canvases, completed from his image sketches, on its monthly covers. Recording for history his vision of the war was one of his goals. Other goals were to capture the beauty of his native prairies, and to teach. He succeeded at both. The prairies were included on Legion magazine covers, and Dunn was able to teach at the Grand Central School of Art, at the Art Students League in New York. Selected students were allowed classes in his personal studio. Some of Dunns students included Dean Cornwell, Saul Tepper, Lyman Anderson, Mario Cooper, Harold von Schmidt, and John Clymer.
Although few of Dunns prairie paintings saw print, Dunn himself donated 42 to the now named South Dakota State University in 1950. In 1970, his works were transferred to the South Dakota Art Museum, where now over 90 canvases are on display. A fine example of his painting is The Prairie Is My Garden (oil on canvas, S.Dakota Art Museum, Brookings) which projects a combination of the beauty and the hardships of pioneer life and a sense of the stalwart men and women Dunn wished to memorialize.
He remains South Dakotas most honored painter, and the State Art Museum of Brookings, which contains many of his, as well as Ada Caldwells, works faces Harvey Dunn Street. Dunn died in 1952.
Harvey T. Dunn
American, 1884 - 1952
Birth LocationManchester, South Dakota, United States
BiographyThis biography was submitted by Thomas Nygard GalleryHarvey T. Dunn, N.A. (1884-1952)
Harvey Dunn was born in a sod-house just off the main buffalo trace, south of Manchester in Dakota Territory. His preference to painting his native country of North & South Dakota came from an astute understanding of the land which he acquired while working on his father’s farm until the age of seventeen.
Dunn earned his art tuition by "sod-busting" for neighboring homesteaders. He decided he wanted to paint the beautiful and moving scenes around him. Studying art at Brookings, South Dakota, he received encouragement from a young art teacher named Ada B. Caldwell. Next, Dunn studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.
After two years of study at the Art Institute of Chicago, he was invited by Howard Pyle, then America’s foremost illustrator, to work at his school in Wilmington, Delaware, and at his summer school in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Dunn became deeply influenced by Pyle’s philosophy. Dunn said of Pyle, "His main purpose was to quicken our souls that we might render service to the majesty of simple things."
Dunn opened his own studio in 1906 and two years later married, having two children with Tulla Krebs. His career flourished; he became an illustrator of all the leading magazines and books, as well as a painter of murals and portraits specializing in Western subjects. During World War I he served as an official war artist depicting American forces in France. Twenty-four of these paintings are now in the Smithsonian Institution.
After the war Dunn and Charles S. Chapman conducted the Dunn School of Illustration in Leonia, New Jersey. He also taught at Grand Central School of Art. His pupils included Dean Cornwell, John Clymer, Gerard Delano, Arthur Mitchell, Bert Proctor, Jack Roberts, Harold Von Schmidt and Frank Street. In 1950 Dunn gave to South Dakota State College a collection of his paintings on prairie subjects.
Harvey Dunn’s work did not focus on the lusty life of the frontier, its far ranging hunters and explorers, its bad men and indians. Instead he focused on the God-fearing people who brought the bible and plow to areas like the Dakotas and Nebraska. However, in illustration his intent was to set the stage for the reader to imagine the story, versus describing the details as to control the mood. Dunn preached to his students to paint the epic rather than the incident. It was that quality in Dunn’s own work which made him one of the outstanding illustrators of his day.
This biography was submitted by Altermann Galleries
Harvey T. Dunn
Born: Manchester, South Dakota 1884
Died: Tenafly, New Jersey 1952
Important magazine illustrator of the prairie
Dunn was born in a sod house in the Red Stone Valley, Dakota Territory. Large and powerful, he earned his art tuition by “sod-busting” for neighboring homesteaders. After rural school he studied art in 1901 at State College, Brookings, the pupil of Ada Caldwell, before attending the Art Institute of Chicago 1902-04. On invitation from Howard Pyle, he studied at Chadds Ford 1904-06, becoming deeply influenced by Pyle’s philosophy. Dunn opened his own studio in Leonia, NJ in 1906, an immediate success as an illustrator. In WWI, Dunn was official artist with the AEF.
Dunn was prolific magazine illustrator specializing in Western subjects. He also taught at Grand Central School of Art. His pupils included Burt Procter, Von Schmidt, Delano, Dye, Shope, Clymer, Hal Stone, Tepper, Edmund F Ward, Frank Street, Jack Roberts, Robert Wagoner, Dean Cornwell. In 1950, Dunn gave to South Dakota State College a collection of his paintings on prairie subjects. The gift is commemorated on a roadside marker near Dunn’s boyhood home. A memorial art center was dedicated at the college to house “The Harvey Dunn Collection and Archives.”
The more popular paintings like The Prairie Is My Garden were reproduced for sale as prints. Dunn’s favorite subjects were the sod-busting pioneers, not the shoot-em-ups of Remington and Russell. He called the purpose of an illustration the setting of the stage for the reader to imagine the story. His intent was to select an incident not described in detail in the text so the illustration could control the mood. In painting, Dunn first established the darker tones of the design to provide the basic pattern for color values and contrasts. He taught that figure drawing started with the head, which had to be kept most interesting.
Resource: SAMUELS’ Encyclopedia of ARTISTS of THE AMERICAN WEST,
Peggy and Harold Samuels, 1985, Castle Publishing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This biography from the archives of AskART.com.
Dunn, Harvey Thomas(1884 1952)
Harvey Thomas Dunn is best known as an illustrator, painter, and muralist. Though based in the East, particularly New Jersey and New York, his native state of South Dakota remained the inspiration for his finest works, which were scenes of prairie life and toil. Born in 1884 in Manchester, in the Red Stone Valley of South Dakota, he was raised in a sod house on the prairie, where he lived with his parents until he was 17 years old. There Dunn, a large boy, devoted his time to farm chores, school, and his drawing.
During a year he spent at the South Dakota Agriculture College in 1901, his teacher Ada Caldwell, an influential South Dakota artist herself, recognized Dunns abilities. She encouraged him to continue his studies at the Chicago Art Institute, which he did, and Dunn always acknowledged the opportunities she opened to him. His tuition was earned by janitor work, odd jobs, and as a summer farm hand. His artistic talent was evident in his drawings, and he was able to convince one of Americas foremost illustrators of that time, Howard Pyle, to admit him to his classes at Wilmington and Chadds Ford.
Dunn was on his own by 1906, selling his art to the magazine markets of the day. With N.C. Wyeth as his best man, Dunn married in 1908. He left Wilmington after Pyle died in 1911, and moved to Leonia, New Jersey, where the art markets were more attractive. One his best clients became The Saturday Evening Post. Along with artist Charles Chapman, Dunn opened the Leonia School of Illustration in 1915, at the inspiration of Howard Pyle.
World War I caused a brief intermission of Dunns career. In 1917, at the age of 33, Dunn was one of eight artists chosen to serve as a graphic reporter on the front lines. This was despite his being past the age of military service. His efforts were fearless, and he filled his logs with profound mental and physical images of ruin. He returned to his private works after being discharged at wars end in 1919. Many of his military drawings are housed at the Smithsonian.
He moved to Tenefly, New Jersey the same year, building a large studio near his home. Feeling the compulsion to create a more lasting art, in addition to illustrations, Dunn accepted a commission by a New York department store 1925 to paint five mural-like panels for its 100th anniversary. In 1928, the American Legion Monthly magazine began featuring Dunns war canvases, completed from his image sketches, on its monthly covers. Recording for history his vision of the war was one of his goals. Other goals were to capture the beauty of his native prairies, and to teach. He succeeded at both. The prairies were included on Legion magazine covers, and Dunn was able to teach at the Grand Central School of Art, at the Art Students League in New York. Selected students were allowed classes in his personal studio. Some of Dunns students included Dean Cornwell, Saul Tepper, Lyman Anderson, Mario Cooper, Harold von Schmidt, and John Clymer.
Although few of Dunns prairie paintings saw print, Dunn himself donated 42 to the now named South Dakota State University in 1950. In 1970, his works were transferred to the South Dakota Art Museum, where now over 90 canvases are on display. A fine example of his painting is The Prairie Is My Garden (oil on canvas, S.Dakota Art Museum, Brookings) which projects a combination of the beauty and the hardships of pioneer life and a sense of the stalwart men and women Dunn wished to memorialize.
He remains South Dakotas most honored painter, and the State Art Museum of Brookings, which contains many of his, as well as Ada Caldwells, works faces Harvey Dunn Street. Dunn died in 1952.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
American, 1878 - 1938
American, 1821 - 1888