BIOGRAPHY
The sixth child of a grocery store owner, Edwin Dawes reported that his mother encouraged him to draw pictures to "keep him out of mischief." Born in Boone, Iowa, Dawes' interest in art began while working as a sign painter in Minnesota during the 1890s. Concurrently in the business of manufacturing and selling baking powder with his father and brother, a visit to the Walker Gallery (now the Walker Art Center) in Minneapolis at the turn of the century immediately inspired him to study painting. Although Dawes received no formal instruction, he spent many hours analyzing the masters in the gallery. In 1908, the prominent Chicago art dealer J. W. Young visited Minneapolis and came across Dawes working at an easel in Nicholson's Sign Shop. Marveling at his large canvas entitled Burning Leaves, Young offered to exhibit the work, an event eagerly reported by the local newspapers. In 1911, inspired by his first public exhibitions and an Honorable Mention in a state competition, Dawes' works from this period show the influence of Impressionism landscapes: a concern for light and atmosphere, as well as a spontaneous application of pigment.
In the spring of 1913, when America was bewildered by some of the art at the Armory Show in New York, the comparatively conservative Dawes was accepted on the jury of the Minnesota State Art Society, receiving a gold medal for Channel to the Mills. This canvas reflects not only impressionism but tonalism, from the short staccato strokes of limited hues in rhythmic, swirling passages, to the large geometric forms of a skyline diffused in shimmering light. Dawes' exemplary skilled brushwork transforms Minneapolis from a sleepy midwestern city into a vibrant and active, industrial urban environment where man-made forms loom as majestically as those of nature.
In 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Dawes purchased a mining company in Nevada, a change of pace after a prolific period of art in New York the past three years. The mining company thrived.
Later in his life, Dawes moved to California and set up a studio in Glendale, painting the Los Angeles area. This work was well-received, although after his death, Edwin Dawes was probably more remembered for his success in the mining of gold and silver than for his career as a painter.
The sixth child of a grocery store owner, Edwin Dawes reported that his mother encouraged him to draw pictures to "keep him out of mischief." Born in Boone, Iowa, Dawes' interest in art began while working as a sign painter in Minnesota during the 1890s. Concurrently in the business of manufacturing and selling baking powder with his father and brother, a visit to the Walker Gallery (now the Walker Art Center) in Minneapolis at the turn of the century immediately inspired him to study painting. Although Dawes received no formal instruction, he spent many hours analyzing the masters in the gallery. In 1908, the prominent Chicago art dealer J. W. Young visited Minneapolis and came across Dawes working at an easel in Nicholson's Sign Shop. Marveling at his large canvas entitled Burning Leaves, Young offered to exhibit the work, an event eagerly reported by the local newspapers. In 1911, inspired by his first public exhibitions and an Honorable Mention in a state competition, Dawes' works from this period show the influence of Impressionism landscapes: a concern for light and atmosphere, as well as a spontaneous application of pigment.
In the spring of 1913, when America was bewildered by some of the art at the Armory Show in New York, the comparatively conservative Dawes was accepted on the jury of the Minnesota State Art Society, receiving a gold medal for Channel to the Mills. This canvas reflects not only impressionism but tonalism, from the short staccato strokes of limited hues in rhythmic, swirling passages, to the large geometric forms of a skyline diffused in shimmering light. Dawes' exemplary skilled brushwork transforms Minneapolis from a sleepy midwestern city into a vibrant and active, industrial urban environment where man-made forms loom as majestically as those of nature.
In 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Dawes purchased a mining company in Nevada, a change of pace after a prolific period of art in New York the past three years. The mining company thrived.
Later in his life, Dawes moved to California and set up a studio in Glendale, painting the Los Angeles area. This work was well-received, although after his death, Edwin Dawes was probably more remembered for his success in the mining of gold and silver than for his career as a painter.
REFERENCES
Biography adapted from Richard Love:
→ http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Edwin_Munot_Dawes/6611/Edwin_Munot_Dawes.aspx
Biography adapted from Richard Love:
→ http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Edwin_Munot_Dawes/6611/Edwin_Munot_Dawes.aspx
Artwork behind title: Dawes's Southwestern Landscape (detail)
