Frank V. Dudley
Encyclopedia
Frank V. Dudley was an American landscape painter, known especially for his paintings of scenes in the Indiana Dunes.
Dudley was born in Delavan, Wisconsin
, but he spent most of his life in the Chicago area. His studio was located in what is now the Indiana Dunes State Park
. Not only did he frequently paint the dunes, he was a significant figure in dunes conservation, helping to successfully advocate for the formation of a park to preserve the Indiana lake shore. He won the Logan Medal of the arts
Born of deaf parents on November 14, 1868, he was the eldest of three brothers. In 1887, he left Delavan, Wisconsin to study art in Chicago. He married Haley Boxwell, and a son, Paul (1898) was born several years later. To support his family, he took commissions to color portrait photographs in crayon and a watercolor. His first exhibition was in 1902 at the Art Institute of Chicago
. Haley died suddenly in 1904. After her death, Dudley concentrated on landscape painting. In 1905, he was awarded the Art Institute’s Young Fortnightly Prize. His brother Clarence also exhibited as series of fine art photographs 1905. These photographs also highlighted the dunes.
Industrial development from Chicago was fast moving east along the Lake Michigan shoreline into the Dunes. The United States Steel Corporation laid out Gary, Indiana
in 1906. Jens Jensen
, an advocate for the Forest Preserves of Chicago, began leading a series of ‘Saturday Afternoon Walking Trips.’ Beginning in 1908, these trips traveled east of Gary to Mt. Tom. This is the highest of the Indiana Dunes. These hikers joined together as the Prairie Club. It was Jens Jensen and Frank’s brother Dudley who were its first directors.
The Club built a beach house, in 1913 north of Mt. Tom. This became the focal point for a movement to create a national Dunes park. Jens Jensen founded Friends of Our Native Landscape, in 1913 with the purpose of protecting the natural landscapes for the public use and as sanctuaries for plants and animals.
Dudley was active in the second decade of the century: in 1915 he won the Art Institute of Chicago’s Butler Prize. The Art Institute also presented a show of his dunes pictures in 1918. Critics were generally complimentary. A year later the Art Institute presented Dudley with the Cahn Prize for his painting The Silent Sentinels. During these years he was unable to devote full time to painting because he ran an art supply store. The funds this provided were needed, but he gave up the business in 1921 to spend all of his time painting in the dunes. Whereas Dudley maintained his residence in the city, by 1921 he had designed and built a log cabin studio in Indiana, so that he could "bring the Dunes indoors." (Dudley to Love, 1977). From this primitive base the artist painted the surrounding area, capturing the quiet evanescence of its multi-faced simplicity. Titles such as Winds in the North or Soft Shadows across the Sands or Under Changing Skies, Dunes, indicate his concern not only with the constantly changing picturesque characteristics of the scene, but also with the extreme effects of the Lake Michigan atmosphere. Although Dudley exhibited little on the national level, he was very active in the Midwest and became known as the "Dunes Painter" or "Painter of the Dunes."
To rallied support for the Dunes movement, the Pairie Club staged an outdoor pageant in the spring of 1917. Dudley painted The Dunes Pageant, set in a natural amphitheater of a blowout. From this start, his works were nearly all based upon the scenery of the dunes. In May 1918, he hosted a one-man show at the Art Institute with 30 paintings. The center of the exhibit was his largest landscape; The Land of Sky and Song. In 1921, he was awarded the Art Institute’s prestigious Logan Medal for Duneland. In 1923 with the State of Indiana established Indiana Dunes State Park
with Mt Tom at its center.
regularly displayed his works. The Chicago Galleries Association also sought is painting for display from 1927 to 1956. In the 1931 Chicago Galleries exhibition, Dudley created a 10-year retrospective of his Duneland Studio. Among the highlights of the exhibition were:
The exhibition marked the end of the Prairie Club’s tenure in the Dunes. Dudley his studio cottage was also in its last years, as it was on land owned by the state of Indiana. To remain, Dudley agreed to donate to the state, one painting a year. Thus he remained in Cottage 108 until 1952. In 1967, his wife sold to the State of Indiana 53 paintings.
Dudley was born in Delavan, Wisconsin
Delavan, Wisconsin
Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,463 at the 2010 census. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan.-Economy:Delavan is home to the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, and Andes Candies.-History:...
, but he spent most of his life in the Chicago area. His studio was located in what is now the Indiana Dunes State Park
Indiana Dunes State Park
Indiana DunesDesignationState Park; National Natural LandmarkLocationPorter County, Indiana, USAAddress1600 N 25 EChesterton, IN 46304Nearest CityPorter, IndianaCoordinatesAreaDate of Establishment1925...
. Not only did he frequently paint the dunes, he was a significant figure in dunes conservation, helping to successfully advocate for the formation of a park to preserve the Indiana lake shore. He won the Logan Medal of the arts
Logan Medal of the arts
The Logan Medal of the Arts was an arts prize initiated in 1907 and associated with the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1917 through 1940, 270 awards were given....
Born of deaf parents on November 14, 1868, he was the eldest of three brothers. In 1887, he left Delavan, Wisconsin to study art in Chicago. He married Haley Boxwell, and a son, Paul (1898) was born several years later. To support his family, he took commissions to color portrait photographs in crayon and a watercolor. His first exhibition was in 1902 at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. Haley died suddenly in 1904. After her death, Dudley concentrated on landscape painting. In 1905, he was awarded the Art Institute’s Young Fortnightly Prize. His brother Clarence also exhibited as series of fine art photographs 1905. These photographs also highlighted the dunes.
The Dunes
In 1911, Frank began to hike the Dunes with his painting equipment. He spent most of his professional life promoting the preservation of the Indiana Dunes. The desires to ‘Save the Dunes’ began in the progressive era of Midwestern politics, centered in Chicago. Industrial development was spreading along the shores of Lake Michigan towards the Dunes In 1913 Dudley married for a second time, to Maida Lewis. The trips into the dunes consisted of finding select vantage points from which to capture the scene on his easel in an all’aperto in a manner of broad, sweeping brushstrokes and textural contrasts of broken color. Maida described her husband’s artistic sensitivity: "The Dunes were irresistible, fascinating to him. They were wild and majestic and fresh. He painted them in all seasons and communicated emotion in them to others." (Chicago Tribune, 3 September 1967; quoting Mrs. F.V. Dudley).Industrial development from Chicago was fast moving east along the Lake Michigan shoreline into the Dunes. The United States Steel Corporation laid out Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...
in 1906. Jens Jensen
Jens Jensen
Jens August Jensen was an Australian politician and Minister for the Navy.Jensen was born in Ballarat, Victoria and educated at Ballarat, leaving school at 11. He became a rabbit-hawker and miner at Beaconsfield, Tasmania. In July 1885 he married Elizabeth Frances Broadhurst; she died in 1894...
, an advocate for the Forest Preserves of Chicago, began leading a series of ‘Saturday Afternoon Walking Trips.’ Beginning in 1908, these trips traveled east of Gary to Mt. Tom. This is the highest of the Indiana Dunes. These hikers joined together as the Prairie Club. It was Jens Jensen and Frank’s brother Dudley who were its first directors.
The Club built a beach house, in 1913 north of Mt. Tom. This became the focal point for a movement to create a national Dunes park. Jens Jensen founded Friends of Our Native Landscape, in 1913 with the purpose of protecting the natural landscapes for the public use and as sanctuaries for plants and animals.
Dudley was active in the second decade of the century: in 1915 he won the Art Institute of Chicago’s Butler Prize. The Art Institute also presented a show of his dunes pictures in 1918. Critics were generally complimentary. A year later the Art Institute presented Dudley with the Cahn Prize for his painting The Silent Sentinels. During these years he was unable to devote full time to painting because he ran an art supply store. The funds this provided were needed, but he gave up the business in 1921 to spend all of his time painting in the dunes. Whereas Dudley maintained his residence in the city, by 1921 he had designed and built a log cabin studio in Indiana, so that he could "bring the Dunes indoors." (Dudley to Love, 1977). From this primitive base the artist painted the surrounding area, capturing the quiet evanescence of its multi-faced simplicity. Titles such as Winds in the North or Soft Shadows across the Sands or Under Changing Skies, Dunes, indicate his concern not only with the constantly changing picturesque characteristics of the scene, but also with the extreme effects of the Lake Michigan atmosphere. Although Dudley exhibited little on the national level, he was very active in the Midwest and became known as the "Dunes Painter" or "Painter of the Dunes."
To rallied support for the Dunes movement, the Pairie Club staged an outdoor pageant in the spring of 1917. Dudley painted The Dunes Pageant, set in a natural amphitheater of a blowout. From this start, his works were nearly all based upon the scenery of the dunes. In May 1918, he hosted a one-man show at the Art Institute with 30 paintings. The center of the exhibit was his largest landscape; The Land of Sky and Song. In 1921, he was awarded the Art Institute’s prestigious Logan Medal for Duneland. In 1923 with the State of Indiana established Indiana Dunes State Park
Indiana Dunes State Park
Indiana DunesDesignationState Park; National Natural LandmarkLocationPorter County, Indiana, USAAddress1600 N 25 EChesterton, IN 46304Nearest CityPorter, IndianaCoordinatesAreaDate of Establishment1925...
with Mt Tom at its center.
Popularity
From 1925 until 1943, the Hoosier SalonHoosier Salon
The Hoosier Salon is a non-profit arts organization that was founded in 1925 by a group called the Daughters of Indiana. That year, the Salon hosted an exhibit in the galleries of the Marshall Field and Company Building in Chicago featuring Indiana artists such as T.C. Steele, J. Ottis Adams and...
regularly displayed his works. The Chicago Galleries Association also sought is painting for display from 1927 to 1956. In the 1931 Chicago Galleries exhibition, Dudley created a 10-year retrospective of his Duneland Studio. Among the highlights of the exhibition were:
Table
| Year | Painting | View | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Waverly Beach | Dunes Park Pavilion | |
| The Studio | Interior studio view showing a Dunes painting on an easel. | ||
| The Playground of the Dunes | Uniformed park ranger standing before newly posted rules in the State Park |
The exhibition marked the end of the Prairie Club’s tenure in the Dunes. Dudley his studio cottage was also in its last years, as it was on land owned by the state of Indiana. To remain, Dudley agreed to donate to the state, one painting a year. Thus he remained in Cottage 108 until 1952. In 1967, his wife sold to the State of Indiana 53 paintings.