Masters of the Golden Age:
Harvey Dunn and His Students
November 7, 2015 - March 13, 2016
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Extended art object labels for the exhibition
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- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, March 1918
- Captain Harvey Dunn
- Photograph
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection
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- Photographer Unknown
- Harvey Dunn in His Studio,
n.d.
- Photograph
- South Dakota Museum Collection
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Street Fighting, 1928
- Cover illustration for The American Legion Monthly,
September 1928
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- In 1928, the assistant art editor of The American
Legion Monthly magazine invited Harvey Dunn to create cover illustrations
inspired by his war experiences. This image portrays soldiers in battle
against the backdrop of a partially destroyed city. A streak of fire emanates
from the rifle of the kneeling figure, and the standing soldier in the
background shows signs of hard service with his ripped sleeve, the loss
of his canvas leggings (called puttees), and a wool wrap around his calf.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Night Raid, 1928
- Cover illustration for The American Legion Monthly,
July 1928
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- Harvey Dunn's approach to visual storytelling reveals
the influence of Howard Pyle in its insistence on capturing a dramatic
moment. Whether Dunn was illustrating an adventure story for the Saturday
Evening Post, depicting a battle attack from World War I, or recalling
his youth plowing a buffalo trace, the artist injected a life-like quality
into his works that made the subject come alive for the viewer.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Gunfire, 1929
- Cover illustration for The American Legion Monthly,
September 1929
- Oil on canvas?
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Dunn's role as an embedded artist with the American Expeditionary
Forces was to visually chronicle the Allied troop's activities. Like other
A.E.F. illustrators, his drawings and paintings created on location were
later translated into finished illustrations for commissions after the
war. In this instance, Dunn's image for The American Legion Monthly
of night bombing was colored by his memory of the brilliant but eerie
illumination caused by muzzle flash from the field artillery.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- The Devil's Vineyard, n.d.
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- In this nuanced, emotional work, fallen soldiers lay
among a French vineyard's posts and wires, their weapons subtly distinguishable
from the trellis's damaged structure. Dunn's close tonal values and quiet
color palette emphasize a sense of tragic calm after the storm.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Tumbling Helter-Skelter,
1906
- Illustration for Dead Men Tell No Tales by Ernest
William Hornung, Charles Scribner's Sons, NY, 1906
- Oil on canvas?
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Robert
D. Lusk
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- Harvey Dunn studied with Howard Pyle in 1904 and 1905,
but in 1906, Pyle encouraged Dunn to set up his own studio in Wilmington,
Delaware. His early commissions reflect Pyle's admonition that ".
. . the moment of violent action is not so good a point to be chosen as
the preceding or following instant. Here the interest lies in the excitement
of uncertainty and eagerness to know who shall win. . . ." This illustration
for Scribner's, created the year Dunn opened his first studio, illuminated
an adventure story first published in 1899. Pyle's influence can be observed
in the many pirate subjects that his students painted at the time. As in
Pyle's An Attack on the Galleon, published in 1905, Dunn places
the viewer at water level, looking up at the action taking place on a looming
ship.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- The Street in Santa Fe, 1912
- Story illustration for "The Calf Patch" by
Kennett Harris, The Saturday Evening Post, February 17, 1912
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- This beautiful illustration offered readers a pageant
of street-side action in old Santa Fe. In this work, Dunn manages to convey
the warmth of the afternoon and much local color?from earthen feel of the
locale and life on the street to the intimate and mysterious conversation
taking place between the men seated outside the hotel.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Billy Boy Would Admit to Nothing More Reprehensible
Than Falling in Love, 1915
- Story illustration for "The Land Just Over Yonder"
by Peter B. Kyne, The Saturday Evening Post, March 27, 1915
- Oil on canvas
- Collection of Murray and Carol Tinkelman
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- This elegantly composed painting tells the story of 'Billy
Boy' King, a young gold prospector who joins up with "desert rat"
Toyiabe Tom Jennings to finally make a claim in Cinnibar, New Mexico after
a five year prospecting partnership. At the age of 28, tired and longing
to settle down, Billy Boy gives his affections to a woman who is part Native
American, despite Jennings' admonitions. Painted in full color, this painting
was published in black and white and imbedded within the story's text,
along with three other illustrations by the artist.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- The Hidden is Found, 1927
- Story illustration for "The Night of Charity"
by Rafael Sabatini, The Elks Magazine, February 1935
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) was an Italian-English writer
of romance and adventure stories, including Captain Blood, his most
famous pirate story. In this illustration for "The Night of Charity,"
a fugitive, seen captured on the right, is threatened with execution. Dunn's
composition utilizes an empty central space within the composition to offset
competing elements of aggression, submission, fright, and disdain. Dunn's
suspenseful approach would have inspired readers to continue on with the
story to learn the fate of its characters.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- School Day's End, n.d.
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- As a boy, Harvey Dunn attended a one-room school in Esmond,
South Dakota, which taught the equivalent of nine grades. His farm chores
were grueling and maintaining his studies was not easy, but what he most
loved was drawing. His mother, Bersha Dunn, encouraged his creative tendencies,
as she was an amateur artist who enjoyed copying pictures from books, magazines,
and calendars. The strong determination to pursue an education even on
the prairie's bleakest days is reflected in this work. In Dunn's richly
painted work, school children make their way home on a frigid winter day.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Home, 1922
- Story illustration for "Iron Heart" by William
MacLeod Raine, The Country Gentleman, July 1922
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Caroline
Dunn Reiland Estate
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- The Country Gentleman was
an agricultural magazine founded in 1831 by journalist and publisher Luther
Tucker in Rochester, New York. In 1911, it was purchased by Curtis Publishing,
owner of The Saturday Evening Post, and was redesigned to emphasize
the business of farming, which was not addressed by the agricultural magazines
of the day. Dunn's life on the prairie served as a reference point for
this story illustration, which portrays a homesteader's farm, wooden shed,
and barn. Covered with tar paper and partially buried in the earth, these
structures offered some protection from the elements in harsher weather.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- The Return, n.d.
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
SDAM 1970.01.42
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- In this emotional work, Harvey Dunn conveys the trauma
resulting from the destruction of a family's home during wartime. A crater-shaped
hole looms over a weeping woman and a devastated young girl, who are surrounded
by the few personal possessions they were able to salvage.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Coming Off Duty (Camouflage),
1929
- Cover illustration for The American Legion Monthly,
January 1930
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Rich and Strange, 1923
- Story illustration for "Rich and Strange" by
Edith Barnard Delano, Ladies' Home Journal, September 1923
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- In this windswept tale published in Ladies' Home Journal,
"Esther Barnes was at Captain Elevar's side before any of us so much
as realized she had moved. 'What are you thinking of? she cried.'"
The woman's impassioned plea is emphasized by her grasp on the gun-wielding
Captain's arm, and the stark paleness of her complexion is juxtaposed with
his ruddy skin and piercing gaze. The Captain's head is at the apex of
a strong triangular shape that encompasses the two figures in their struggle.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- The Liberator, Mexico, 1916
- Story illustration for "A Good Rooster Crows Everywhere"
by George Pattullo,
- The Saturday Evening Post,
December 2, 1916
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Like Harvey Dunn, author George Pattullo was a member
of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, reporting for
The Saturday Evening Post. He became one of the magazine's leading
writers, and was known for such collections of Southwestern short stories
as "A Good Rooster Crows Everywhere," which appeared in the Post
and in book form. In this dynamic composition, two women seek protection
from an angry band by clinging to, and hovering behind, the story's tall,
brave protagonist.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Return to the Yacht, n.d.
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Like his teacher, Howard Pyle, Dunn utilized a three
value tonal system -- light, medium, and dark. "Commence your picture
by first establishing the three main values of your focal center, as of
hair, face and background, and work on it until you have it right,"
he advised his students. "Then paint the rest of your picture in that
tonal range, and do not, under any circumstances, depart from it. With
your main tones decided, you have the key to all the remaining tones."
In Return to the Yacht, the dark water and light vessel offer striking
contrast, almost splitting the composition in two. The painting's lightest
areas emphasize the presence of two figures, and boat's red stripe is a
middle tone that provides a vibrant spot of color.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Nightclub Scene, c. 1930
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- This impressionistic work reflects the relative affluence
of the post-World War I era, and the success that Dunn achieved as an illustrator.
During the early and mid-twentieth century, illustrators were in high demand,
and since most publications utilized their services, top artists were well-compensated
for their work. The play of soft light on his subjects creates a sense
of warmth and atmosphere, and in this music-filled room, his subjects seem
immersed in their reverie.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Serving Drinks in an Arab Garden, 1922
- Story illustration for "Command" by William
McFee, Harper's Monthly Magazine, 1922
- Oil on canvas
- The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art
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- A brilliant colorist, Harvey Dunn advised his student
to "play up one color note," as seen in the woman's yellow tunic,
a focus of the painting. Yellow also appears prominently in the table and
chair in the foreground, and in the shadow that falls against the wall
behind her.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Welcome to the Commissioner,
1917
- Story illustration for "A Case of Mutual Respect"
by Stewart Edward White, The Saturday Evening Post, October 27,
1917
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Stewart Edward White (1873-1946) was an American writer
and spiritualist who wrote a series of fiction and non-fiction stories
about adventure and travel, with an emphasis on natural history and outdoor
living. A Case of Mutual Respect was a story about a British hunter
in Africa, pictured here on horseback among a crowd of villagers. The oval
ox-hide shields featuring symbolic snake decorations are in the style of
the Zulu people, a Bantu ethnic group in southern Africa. A lively pattern
of light and dark moves the viewer's eye through the painting's composition.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Simba's Nostrils Widened and His Eyes Flashed. "He
Says He Was Taught Shooting by Bwana Kingozi," 1917
- Story illustration for "A Case of Mutual Respect"
by Stewart Edward White, The Saturday Evening Post, October 27,
1917
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of Robert Doares
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- This story illustration reflects the colonization of
South Africa in the early nineteenth century by Great Britain. Confronted
by the region's native people, an elegantly dressed woman is seated on
a loosely-slung hammock under the shade of striped awning, a fine teapot
by her side.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Meeting with the Chiefs,
1917
- Story illustration for "True Sportsmen" by
Stewart Edward White, The Saturday Evening Post, September 1, 1917
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Oliver Staggered Over and Entered Major Worsley's
Quarters, 1927
- Story illustration for "Decorations" by Laurie
York Erskine, Collier's, October 29, 1927
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Author Laurie York Erskine (1894-1976) served in the
Royal Flying Corps during World War and worked for a newspaper until he
began writing fiction stories in 1921. Like Harvey Dunn, his work was published
frequently in Collier's, a noted weekly founded in 1888. Known for
its "fiction, fact, sensation, wit, humor, and news," the magazine
reached 2.8 million readers at its height, commissioning such famous writers
as Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, F.
Scott Fitzgerald, J. D. Salinger, John Steinbeck, Pearl S. Buck, and Kurt
Vonnegut to report on historical events.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Settlers in Canada, 1938
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Artist
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Guillotine, c.1937
- Story illustration for "An Official Position"
by W. Somerset Maugham, Cosmopolitan,
- July 1937
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of Mr. Tom Lovell
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- In a French penal colony, chief executioner Louis Remire
is also a prisoner who has been convicted of killing his wife. The position
gives Remire status, pay, and satisfaction -- he wears his own clothing
instead of prison garb and proudly sports a substantial mustache. His role
is also a dangerous one, as he is a hated official of the state, even though
fellow inmates are enamored of his brass and steel guillotine. In this
image, Remire makes preparations for the execution of six prisoners that
will take place the following morning. This painting was gifted to the
South Dakota Art Museum by Tom Lovell (1909-1997), a prominent twentieth
century illustrator who was an admirer of Dunn's art.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Empty Rooms, 1938
- Story illustration for "Leave the Past Behind"
by Frederick Merrill Tibbott, The Saturday Evening Post, May 21,
1938
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of Marion J.
Kaye in memory of her mother,
- Helen M. Kerns
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- In this light-filled painting, a motif of rectangular
shapes unifies the composition?from the doorways and window panes to the
pattern of sunlight falling across the picture plane. Dunn reminded his
students that visual patterns should be "so interwoven that you can't
remove anything without ruining the picture."
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- They Want You, c.1938
- Story illustration for "Arrival of the Lily Dean"
by Walter D. Edmonds, The Saturday Evening Post, May 7, 1938
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of the Horace
and Helen Gilmore Estate
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- Walter D. Edmonds (1903-1998), best known for his historical
novels, wrote a series of stories for The Saturday Evening Post about
the mercantile career of John Ames, a character involved in the clipper
ship trade. In this painterly work, the story's protagonist has his back
to the viewer, though his arrival is clearly anticipated by the gentlemen
in the room beyond.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Untitled (Red Cross), 1915
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Purchased through
the Ella Ollenberg Estate Bequest
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- At the start of World War I, the American Red Cross was
a small organization in the process of developing its identity and programs.
By the time the war ended in November 1918, the organization had become
an important humanitarian organization with a large membership base, international
recognition, and a distinguished record of service. In Dunn's painting,
a Red Cross nurse appears almost as an angel overseeing her wounded charges.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- May Street, 1922
- Oil on canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Gift of Dr. and Mrs.
Hilton M. Briggs
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- The woman featured in this luminous work is May Street,
the wife of illustrator Frank Street (1893-1944), who studied with Harvey
Dunn at his school in Leonia, New Jersey, in 1915. The greatest area of
definition and contrast in this contemplative work is seen within and around
the sitter's face, which is its focal point.
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- Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
- Eleanor Burnet, 1906
- Oil on Canvas
- South Dakota Art Museum Collection, Friends Fund Purchase
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- The figure of Dunn's model, Eleanor Burnet, is central
to this painting, its true subject is the play of light on form. Illumination
spilling from the open door and from the window in this composition defines
the woman's shape, though her face remains in shadow. Eleanor Burnet posed
for several of Howard Pyle's students in 1906, including Dunn, and this
painting is a rare early example of this art from this period.
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