Biography

She grew up in Cleveland.
In 1918, she took classes at the Pasadena Playhouse

Pasadena Playhouse

The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...

, and studies at the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

.
In 1922, she moved to 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...

, and studied at the Art Students League.

She met fellow artist David Smith

David Smith (sculptor)

David Roland Smith was an American Abstract Expressionist sculptor and painter, best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures.-Biography:...

 in 1926, and they were married from 1927 to 1952.
They lived at Bolton Landing, New York

Bolton Landing, New York

Bolton Landing is a hamlet in the town of Bolton in Warren County, New York, United States. It is located on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains. It is a common tourist destination and the closest town to the State Park lands and islands of the Lake George Narrows...

, where she concentrated on drawing and painting from 1940 to 1950.

She and Smith separated in 1950.
She studied printmaking with Stanley Hayter at Atelier 17.
She turned to sculpture in bronze and metal, eventually working with wood.
In 1952, she had a solo exhibition at the Rose Fried Gallery.
In 1955, she married Ferdinand Mann, a publisher.
In 1957, she had a one-woman exhibition at the Willard Gallery 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...

.
In 1970-1971, she was a visiting artist at the Tamarind Institute

Tamarind Institute

Tamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles in 1960...

.

Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

, National Museum of Women in the Arts

National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts , located in Washington, D.C. is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating women’s achievements in the visual, performing, and literary arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay...

 the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...

,
and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...

.

The Dorothy Dehner Foundation manages her artistic estate.

Sources

• "Dorothy Dehner", Joan M. Marter, Woman's Art Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Autumn, 1980 - Winter, 1981), pp. 47-50
• Joan M. Marter, Dorothy Dehner: sixty years of art, Katonah Museum of Art, 1993, ISBN 9780915171293
• Martha L. Nodine, Paterfamilias: the Cincinnati years (1820-1900): artist Dorothy Dehner's German-American legacy, Martha L. Nodine, 2004

External links

• "Dorothy Dehner" From the Artcyclopedia. Accessed August 19, 2006.
• Interview with Dorothy Dehner (Oct 1965 & Dec 1966), Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
• Dorothy Dehner, Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Dorothy Dehner papers at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
• Dorothy Dehner (American, 1901-1994)