Dorothy Dehner
| Dorothy Dehner | |
|---|---|
Jacob's Ladder I, bronze of 1957, in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
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| Born |
23 December 1901 Cleveland, OH |
| Died | 22 September 1994 (aged 92) New York, NY |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Skidmore College, Art Students League, Atelier 17 |
| Known for | sculpture, painting, drawing |
| Notable work | Life on the Farm,Star Cage,Gateway |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism |
| Awards | Honorary doctorate from Skidmore College in 1982, Women’s Caucus award for outstanding achievement in the visual arts in 1983, first prize in drawing from Audubon Artists in 1946 |
Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an American painter and sculptor.
Dorothy Dehner was born on December 23, 1901 in Cleveland, OH. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother was a passionate suffragette. When Dehner was ten years old, her father died and her two aunts, Flo and Cora, moved in. Cora aroused Dehner's curiosity about foreign culture with extravagant tales of her travels abroad. Cora's tales would later provide the inspiration for Dehner's solo trip to Europe in 1925.
In 1915, as a result of her mother's declining health, the family of four moved to Pasadena, CA, where Dehner actively studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse. Dehner experienced heavy emotional loss over the next two years in which both her sister and mother died. In 1922 she pursued studies in theater at the University of California Los Angeles, but dropped out after one year to explore a stage career in New York. While in New York, she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and starred in some off-Broadway productions. Despite her moderate success as an actress, Dehner felt her expression was stifled by the theater. She was, to an extent, dictated by director, script, and venue.
Following her brief stint with theater, Dehner decided to adventure to Paris to seek new inspiration. She traveled alone as not to be hindered by any travel companions. Her first stop was Florence, Italy, where she absorbed much of Italy's historic architecture. Following a quick stop in Switzerland, she flew to Paris where she was heavily influenced by Cubism, Fauvism, and Constructivism. She was particularly taken with works by Picasso and committed herself to drawing throughout her year of travel. The 1925 Art Deco show in Paris particularly overwhelmed her. Upon her return to the United States, Dehner enrolled at the Art Students League and briefly studied sculpture. However, she found the teaching methods overly conventional and ended up setting sculpture aside and focusing on drawing, under the instruction of Jan Matulka. It was here she met David Smith.
Dehner married Smith on Christmas Eve, 1927. Smith and Dehner bought a farm in Bolton Landing in upstate New York in 1929 and spent much of their married life there. To sustain themselves during the Depression, both Smith and Dehner took on commercial jobs. However, as a result of some family land holdings, Dehner received an annual check for $2,000, which helped support them financially and allowed Smith to focus on his art. In 1931, they dropped everything and took a nine-month trip to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Here, without the distractions of modern life, Dehner was able to focus on her painting. She primarily focused on her still life art. Her subject matter consisted of mostly natural forms, such as shells and aquatic life, while her style remained heavily cubist. Indeed, her work during this time was heavily influenced by the abstraction taught by Matulka at the Art Students League.
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