HARVEY DUNN | SELECTED WORKS
05.21.2010 - 10.16.2010
Sen. Adelstein + Lynda Clark Gallery
 Dunn painting indoors  Dunn in class  Dunn in uniform | The Dahl Arts Center and Security First Bank is proud to display a selection of the Harvey Dunn collection on loan from the South Dakota Art Museum. Twenty-nine works by artist Harvey Dunn are on loan from the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, SD.
Harvey Thomas Dunn (1884-1952) Harvey Dunn’s paintings of pioneer life on the South Dakota prairie have come to symbolize the state's early history. Even though Dunn died more than 50 years ago, he's still one of the region's most famous artists. He is an inspiration to local artists and warms the heart of many enthusiastic admirers. Dunn traveled extensively but he always seemed to come back to the inspiration of his beloved home state, South Dakota. He painted with bold strokes of windswept color, depicting the strength and hardships of pioneer life. As a war artist for World War 1 he shared his observations, the ruins of armed combat while documenting the history of battles. Illustrating books and magazines he sold smiles and ideas with story telling pictures. Teaching, he spoke about spirit and emotions more than technique with his students. Harvey Dunn paintings are full of life, energy and emotion. His impressionistic painting style is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, but perhaps with a more documentary note. Bright blues, crisp yellows and warm browns draw you into each painting to reveal their own story of the past. Dunn was known to “attack the canvas” with a brush, moving energy from artist and idea into each painting. The power of his convictions is evident in the moving brush strokes, impasto style layers of paint and composition of color. Foggy climates in blue grey give way to the mangled limbs of war soldiers, wind blown skirts and prairie grass blaze under a golden Dakota sun; wind, light and atmosphere are as real as if you had stepped inside the mind of Mr. Dunn. The Dahl Arts Center invites you to walk into the history of South Dakota as seen through the eyes of Harvey Dunn; South Dakota’s claim to fame for painting artists. The exhibit will be on display at the Dahl Arts Center through October 16, 2010. Unable to stop in to see the show? Check out a slideshow of images HERE! |
