Manierre Dawson
Encyclopedia
Manierre Dawson was a painter and sculptor born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, but lived most of his life in Michigan. A precocious and ceaseless experimenter, Dawson independently developed stylistic and material innovations that rivaled his most progressive contemporaries.
curriculum had made a lasting impact on his creative vision. Mechanical drawing methods and descriptive geometry
courses led him to paint in a geometric style by the end of 1908. His analytic geometry
and differential calculus
courses contributed directly to his first series of abstract paintings in the spring of 1910. (Ploog, Bairstow and Boyajian, Manierre Dawson (1887-1969): A Catalogue Raisonné, 2011) At that time, he was a first-year employee at the Chicago architectural firm of John Holabird and Martin Roche
.
After a year with the firm he was granted a six-month leave-of-absence for an educational tour of Europe. He departed in mid-June 1910 for his only trip abroad. His itinerary is well documented in his journal. Disembarking in Liverpool, he made his way across England to France, south through Germany, across Switzerland to Italy, back north for a second stay in Paris, and around northern Germany before embarking from Bremerhaven in late-November. In Siena, he met and exchanged ideas on painting with John Singer Sargent
. During his return visit to Paris he attended a Saturday evening soiree at the apartment of Gertrude Stein
and he saw paintings by Paul Cézanne
in the gallery of Ambrose Vollard. Returning through Hoboken, he stopped in New York to call upon Arthur B. Davies
who introduced him to Albert Pinkham Ryder
(Ploog, “The First American Abstractionist: Manierre Dawson and his Sources,” in Manierre Dawson: An American Pioneer of Abstract Art, Hollis Taggart Galleries, 1999).
) in New York (Feb. 15-Mar. 15, 1913) but Dawson declined, lamenting that he had nothing appropriate to send. When the exhibition came to Chicago (Mar. 24-Apr. 15, 1913), he met Walter Pach
and bought two paintings: Marcel Duchamp
’s Nu (esquisse) (Nude [study]) now known as Jeune homme triste dans un train (Sad Young Man on a Train) and [Amadéo de Souza Cardoso]’s Return from the Chase. While the Armory Show still hung in the Art Institute of Chicago
, Dawson’s employment with Holabird and Roche ended. The circumstances of his termination are not known.
In 1914, Dawson participated in two group exhibitions. One, organized by Davies and Pach in conjunction with the Montross Gallery in New York traveled to the Detroit Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Peabody Institute
in Baltimore. The other, organized by the Milwaukee Art Society (now the Milwaukee Art Museum
) resulted in the sale of two paintings to Arthur Jerome Eddy
.
Summers spent at the family’s retreat in Mason Country, Michigan were his most productive periods during his early career and provided rudimentary knowledge of growing and marketing fruit so, in the fall of 1914, he moved there permanently. He met Lilian Boucher, the daughter of a local farmer, and fell in love. They married in July 1915 and three children were born over the next five years.
, scraps of lumber, pieces of plywood). Sheets of composite wood (brand names Novoply and Timblend) were laminated together for thickness and carved into freestanding sculptures.
In the mid-1950’s he and his wife began wintering in Sarasota, Florida. The first real recognition of his work began in 1966 with a retrospective exhibition mounted by the Grand Rapids Art Museum
. An exhibition organized by the John and Mable Ringing Museum in Sarasota and shared with the Norton Gallery in West Palm Springs followed a year later. This exhibition brought Dawson to the attention of Robert Schoelkopf who showed his work in New York in April 1969 and March 1981.
When Dawson was diagnosed with cancer in 1968, he sold the Michigan farm and moved to Sarasota permanently. He died on August 15, 1969.
Manierre Dawson (1887-1969), Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, April 7–30, 2011.
Early Career
Manierre Dawson was the second of four sons born to George E. Dawson and Eva (Manierre) Dawson who were avid supporters of the arts as an avocation but preferred “professional” careers for their sons. After high school, Manierre enrolled in the civil engineering program at the Armour Institute of Technology. When he completed his four-year degree in 1909, his civil engineeringCivil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
curriculum had made a lasting impact on his creative vision. Mechanical drawing methods and descriptive geometry
Descriptive geometry
Descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions, by using a specific set of procedures. The resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design and in art...
courses led him to paint in a geometric style by the end of 1908. His analytic geometry
Analytic geometry
Analytic geometry, or analytical geometry has two different meanings in mathematics. The modern and advanced meaning refers to the geometry of analytic varieties...
and differential calculus
Differential calculus
In mathematics, differential calculus is a subfield of calculus concerned with the study of the rates at which quantities change. It is one of the two traditional divisions of calculus, the other being integral calculus....
courses contributed directly to his first series of abstract paintings in the spring of 1910. (Ploog, Bairstow and Boyajian, Manierre Dawson (1887-1969): A Catalogue Raisonné, 2011) At that time, he was a first-year employee at the Chicago architectural firm of John Holabird and Martin Roche
Martin Roche
Martin Roche was an American architect.In partnership with William Holabird, Martin Roche designed buildings following the Chicago School and that were landmarks in the development of early sky scrapers. He worked for William Le Baron Jenney until 1881 when he joined William Holabird at Holabird &...
.
After a year with the firm he was granted a six-month leave-of-absence for an educational tour of Europe. He departed in mid-June 1910 for his only trip abroad. His itinerary is well documented in his journal. Disembarking in Liverpool, he made his way across England to France, south through Germany, across Switzerland to Italy, back north for a second stay in Paris, and around northern Germany before embarking from Bremerhaven in late-November. In Siena, he met and exchanged ideas on painting with John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
. During his return visit to Paris he attended a Saturday evening soiree at the apartment of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
and he saw paintings by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
in the gallery of Ambrose Vollard. Returning through Hoboken, he stopped in New York to call upon Arthur B. Davies
Arthur B. Davies
Arthur Bowen Davies was an avant-garde American artist and patron.-Biography:He was born in Utica, New York and studied at the Chicago Academy of Design from 1879 to 1882...
who introduced him to Albert Pinkham Ryder
Albert Pinkham Ryder
Albert Pinkham Ryder was an American painter best known for his poetic and moody allegorical works and seascapes, as well as his eccentric personality...
(Ploog, “The First American Abstractionist: Manierre Dawson and his Sources,” in Manierre Dawson: An American Pioneer of Abstract Art, Hollis Taggart Galleries, 1999).
Mid Career
Fueled by his tour of Europe and meeting Davies, 1911 through 1914 were the most productive years of his career. He produced some paintings based on old master compositions. (Mary Mathews Gedo, “Modernizing the Masters: Manierre Dawson’s Cubist Transliterations,” Arts Magazine, April 1981). In December 1912, Davies invited Dawson to participate in the International Exhibition of Modern Art (better known as the Armory ShowArmory Show
Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...
) in New York (Feb. 15-Mar. 15, 1913) but Dawson declined, lamenting that he had nothing appropriate to send. When the exhibition came to Chicago (Mar. 24-Apr. 15, 1913), he met Walter Pach
Walter Pach
Walter Pach was an artist, critic, lecturer, art adviser, and art historian who wrote extensively about modern art and championed the cause of modern art...
and bought two paintings: Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
’s Nu (esquisse) (Nude [study]) now known as Jeune homme triste dans un train (Sad Young Man on a Train) and [Amadéo de Souza Cardoso]’s Return from the Chase. While the Armory Show still hung in 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...
, Dawson’s employment with Holabird and Roche ended. The circumstances of his termination are not known.
In 1914, Dawson participated in two group exhibitions. One, organized by Davies and Pach in conjunction with the Montross Gallery in New York traveled to the Detroit Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Peabody Institute
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a renowned conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of Charles and Monument Streets at Mount Vernon Place.-History:...
in Baltimore. The other, organized by the Milwaukee Art Society (now the Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
) resulted in the sale of two paintings to Arthur Jerome Eddy
Arthur Jerome Eddy
Arthur Jerome Eddy was an American lawyer, author, art collector, and art critic. He was one of the first generation of Americans who collected Modern art...
.
Summers spent at the family’s retreat in Mason Country, Michigan were his most productive periods during his early career and provided rudimentary knowledge of growing and marketing fruit so, in the fall of 1914, he moved there permanently. He met Lilian Boucher, the daughter of a local farmer, and fell in love. They married in July 1915 and three children were born over the next five years.
Later Career
Just as the impact of his civil engineering training is evident in his early work, the events of his life and his profession influenced his art later in his career. When he began to make a living from the land and started a family, fertility appears as the theme of some of his works. Likewise, the long hours in his orchards, pruning, spraying, and harvesting resulted in compositions consisting of intertwining limbs. Conceived as sculptures but recorded as paintings in the late teens, some were later realized in three dimensions. Living in rural Michigan and struggling financially he made art from what was available (Portland cementPortland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
, scraps of lumber, pieces of plywood). Sheets of composite wood (brand names Novoply and Timblend) were laminated together for thickness and carved into freestanding sculptures.
In the mid-1950’s he and his wife began wintering in Sarasota, Florida. The first real recognition of his work began in 1966 with a retrospective exhibition mounted by the Grand Rapids Art Museum
Grand Rapids Art Museum
The Grand Rapids Art Museum is an art museum located in Grand Rapids, Michigan with collections ranging from Renaissance to Modern Art and special collections on 19th and 20th century European and American art, including such modern art works as Richard Diebenkorn’s 1963 Ingleside...
. An exhibition organized by the John and Mable Ringing Museum in Sarasota and shared with the Norton Gallery in West Palm Springs followed a year later. This exhibition brought Dawson to the attention of Robert Schoelkopf who showed his work in New York in April 1969 and March 1981.
When Dawson was diagnosed with cancer in 1968, he sold the Michigan farm and moved to Sarasota permanently. He died on August 15, 1969.
Major Paintings
- Prognostic, 1910, Milwaukee Museum of Art
- Xdx, 1910, Brooklyn Museum of Art
- Discal Procession, 1910, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
- Lucrece, 1911, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota
- Mrs. Darrow, 1911, Art Institute of Chicago
- Meeting (The Three Graces), 1912, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Retrospect, 1913, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Letters and Numbers, 1914, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
- Figure by Window, 1915, Illinois State Museum, Springfield
Selected Exhibitions
- Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, Montross Gallery in New York, February 2-23, 1914; the Detroit Museum of Art, Mar. 1-14, 1914; Cincinnati Museum of Art, March 19–April 5, 1914; and the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Apr. 15–May 15, 1914.
- Manierre Dawson, Milwaukee Art Institute, Jan. 1923.
- Retrospective Paintings by Manierre Dawson, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan, April 3-24, 1966.
- Manierre Dawson: Paintings 1909-1913, Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida November 6-26, 1967, Norton Gallery and School of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, January 6-February 18, 1968.
- Manierre Dawson, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, April 5-May 1, 1969.
- Manierre Dawson (1887-1969): A Retrospective Exhibition of Painting, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, November 13-January 2, 1977. Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, January 18-February 20, 1977; Maryland Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, March 29-May 1, 1977.
- Manierre Dawson, Paintings 1910-1914, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, March 28-April 22, 1981.
- Manierre Dawson (1887-1969): American Modernist Painter, Tildon-Foley Gallery, New Orleans, May 21-June 30, 1988.
- Manierrre Dawson Early Abstractionist, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 8-June 30, 1988.
- Manierre Dawson American Pioneer of Abstract Art, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, October1-30, 1999.
- Manierre Dawson American Pioneer of Abstract Art, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, December1-30, 2000.
- Manierre Dawson: New Revelations, Hollis Taggart Galleries, Chicago, May 1-June 15, 2003.
- Manierre Dawson: A Startling Presence, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, March 12–August 6, 2006.
Manierre Dawson (1887-1969), Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, April 7–30, 2011.
Selected Bibliography
- Hey, Kenneth R., "Manierre Dawson: A Fix on the Phantoms of the Imagination,” Archives of American Art Journal 14, no. 4 (1974), pp. 7-12.
- Davidson, Abraham, A. “Two from the Second Decade: Manierre Dawson and John Covert,” Art in America 63, no. 5 (Sept. 1975), pp. 50-55.
- Powell, Earl A. III, “Manierre Dawson’s ‘Woman in Brown,’” Arts Magazine 51, no. 1 (Sept. 1976), pp. 76-77.
- Gedo, Mary M. “Manierre Dawson: The Prophet in His Own Country,” American Art Review 4, no. 3 (Dec. 1977), pp. 64-75, 121-125.
- Gedo, Mary Mathews, “Modernizing the Master: Manierre Dawson’s Cubist Transliterations,” Art Magazine 55, no. 8 (April 1981), pp. 135-145.
- Adams, Henry and Randy J. Ploog, Manierre Dawson American Pioneer of Abstract Art (New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 1999).
- Ploog, Randy J. and Henry Adams, Manierre Dawson: New Revelations (Chicago: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2003).
- Bates, Geoffrey, “Manierre Dawson: An Artist Out of Bounds,” The Living Museum, 68, no. 1 (2006) pp. 8-13.
- Ploog, Randy J., Myra Bairstow, and Ani Boyajian, Manierre Dawson (1887-1969): A Catalogue Raisonne (The Three Graces in association with Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, 2011).
Further reading
- Davidson, Abraham A. Early American Modernist Painting, 1910-1935, (New York: Harper and Row, 1981).
- Prince, Sue A. ed. The Old Guard and the Avant-Garde: Modernism in Chicago, 1910-1940 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).
- Kennedy, Elizabeth ed. Chicago Modern, 1893-1945: Pursuit of the New, (Chicago: Terra Museum of American Art, 2004).