Adolf Dehn
Encyclopedia
Adolf Dehn was born in Waterville, Minnesota, November 22, 1895 and he died in New York City, May 19 1968. Two-time recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Dehn was one of the most notable lithographers of the 20th century. Throughout his artistic career, Dehn participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including Regionalism
, Social Realism
, and caricature
. He was known for both his technical skills and his high-spirited, droll depictions of human foibles.
. Dehn began creating artwork at the age of six and by the time of his death had created nearly 650 images.
After graduating as valedictorian from Waterville High School, he went to the Minneapolis School of Art
, known today as the (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) where he met Wanda Gág
. Later he and Gag were two of only a dozen students in the country to earn a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York
. After graduation, he was drafted to serve in World War I
, but he was a conscientious objector
. Dehn was imprisoned for two years for refusing to serve in the military.
and Vienna
he belonged to a group of intellectuals and artists, including E.E. Cummings. A number of the caricatures he drew depicting the Roaring 20s, burlesque, opera houses, and the café scene appeared in such magazines as Vanity Fair. His favorite medium was lithography, and he alternated between spoofing high society and creating beautiful landscapes. It was in Paris that Dehn met his first wife, Mura Ziperovitch, a dancer who had left the Soviet Union.
had taken hold of the country, they were desperately poor, and their financial difficulties contributed to their ultimate divorce. In the 1930s, his work began to appear in magazines such as the New Yorker and Vogue. During his period as a lithographer, his striking images of New York City
, including Central Park
, captured the essence of the Roaring 20s and the 1930s Depression era
.
He earned a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1939, which allowed him to travel to the western United States and to Mexico. After the Second World War he turned to watercolor and his scenes of farms and farmlands in rural America are well respected. Several trips back to Minnesota inspired many of these landscapes and farm scenes.
Dehn participated in and helped develop the American Artists Group, and it was at this group’s gallery that he met his second wife, Virginia Engleman. They worked side by side as artists for the rest of his life. In the 40s Dehn began to sell more lithographs and to teach other American artists lithography techniques. As he became more widely recognized and financially successful, he was able to travel extensively. As well as visiting and painting Key West, and the southwestern region of the United States, he went to Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Afghanistan and other areas of the world. The wide range of subject matter found in his prints, drawings, and paintings reflects his travels.
In 1961 Dehn was admitted to the National Academy of Design
. He died on May 19, 1968. Adolf Dehn is remembered as a prolific artist of great range. His works are held in over 100 museums (including the Smithsonian). Astonishingly, over twenty-five museums hold extensive collections of Dehn's output (between twenty-five to as many as 250 individual works). One of the largest collections of Dehn art is held by the Le Sueur County Historical Society at their museum in Elysian, Minnesota.
Regionalism (art)
Regionalism is an American realist modern art movement that was popular during the 1930s. The artistic focus was from artists who shunned city life, and rapidly developing technological advances, to create scenes of rural life...
, Social Realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
, and caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
. He was known for both his technical skills and his high-spirited, droll depictions of human foibles.
Biography
Dehn was born in 1895 in Waterville, MinnesotaWaterville, Minnesota
Waterville is a city in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2010 census. It is close to Sakatah Lake State Park on the Cannon River.-Geography:...
. Dehn began creating artwork at the age of six and by the time of his death had created nearly 650 images.
After graduating as valedictorian from Waterville High School, he went to the Minneapolis School of Art
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
, known today as the (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) where he met Wanda Gág
Wanda Gág
Wanda Hazel Gág was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother and father were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent...
. Later he and Gag were two of only a dozen students in the country to earn a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. After graduation, he was drafted to serve in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but he was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
. Dehn was imprisoned for two years for refusing to serve in the military.
Early career
After the war was over, he went to Europe. In ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
he belonged to a group of intellectuals and artists, including E.E. Cummings. A number of the caricatures he drew depicting the Roaring 20s, burlesque, opera houses, and the café scene appeared in such magazines as Vanity Fair. His favorite medium was lithography, and he alternated between spoofing high society and creating beautiful landscapes. It was in Paris that Dehn met his first wife, Mura Ziperovitch, a dancer who had left the Soviet Union.
Later career
In 1929 he returned to the United States with his wife. As the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
had taken hold of the country, they were desperately poor, and their financial difficulties contributed to their ultimate divorce. In the 1930s, his work began to appear in magazines such as the New Yorker and Vogue. During his period as a lithographer, his striking images of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, including Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, captured the essence of the Roaring 20s and the 1930s Depression era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
He earned a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1939, which allowed him to travel to the western United States and to Mexico. After the Second World War he turned to watercolor and his scenes of farms and farmlands in rural America are well respected. Several trips back to Minnesota inspired many of these landscapes and farm scenes.
Dehn participated in and helped develop the American Artists Group, and it was at this group’s gallery that he met his second wife, Virginia Engleman. They worked side by side as artists for the rest of his life. In the 40s Dehn began to sell more lithographs and to teach other American artists lithography techniques. As he became more widely recognized and financially successful, he was able to travel extensively. As well as visiting and painting Key West, and the southwestern region of the United States, he went to Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Afghanistan and other areas of the world. The wide range of subject matter found in his prints, drawings, and paintings reflects his travels.
In 1961 Dehn was admitted to the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
. He died on May 19, 1968. Adolf Dehn is remembered as a prolific artist of great range. His works are held in over 100 museums (including the Smithsonian). Astonishingly, over twenty-five museums hold extensive collections of Dehn's output (between twenty-five to as many as 250 individual works). One of the largest collections of Dehn art is held by the Le Sueur County Historical Society at their museum in Elysian, Minnesota.
Sources
- Jones, Arthur F., and Steve Arbury. Adolf Dehn. Radford University Foundation Press, 2003.
- Lumsdaine, Jocelyn Pang, and Thomas O'Sullivan. The Prints of Adolf Dehn. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987.
External links
- http://www.butlerart.com/pc_book/pages/adolf_dehn_1895.htm
- Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center Paintings of Naval Aviation by Adolf Dehn, Gift of Abbott Laboratories
- Columbus Museum of Art Web page on Dehn’s 1931 lithograph, We Nordics (click on picture for larger image)
- http://www.harmonmeekgallery.com/artists/dehn.html
- http://rhet5662.class.umn.edu/heroes/dehn.html
- Figureworks.com/20th Century work at www.figureworks.com