Harvey Dunn Exhibit
(August 2 through October 30, 2011)

The Dacotah Prairie Museum proudly announced the opening of an exhibit of original oil paintings by one of the most famous painter/ illustrators in South Dakota history, Harvey Dunn. The show included fourteen pieces on loan from the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, SD, as well as “Leave the Past Behind”, which was a given to the DPM in 1993 by Duane and the late Isabel Riedel of Aberdeen. Some of the other pieces featured in the exhibit are “After School”, “Just a Few Drops of Rain”, “Old Settlers” and “The Farmer”. 

Harvey Dunn was born on a homestead near Manchester, Dakota Territory in 1884.  At the age of 17 he left home for the first time to attend the South Dakota Agricultural College (now SDSU) in Brookings.  With just one year of study beyond eighth grade, Dunn was not eligible for the college course, but he was there to learn more about his passion, art.  He did continue his formal education in order to attain collegiate statue, but Dunn jokingly stated in his later years “Art was the only thing I didn’t flunk!”  Transcripts prove that statement to be false.

His art instructor at Brookings, Ada Caldwell, helped Harvey develop his natural talent and finally urged him to attend the Chicago Institute of Art for further training, which he did, spending two years (1902 – 1904) refining his craft.

Dunn’s first job as an artist was as one of the illustrators for the Saturday Evening Post.  He painted nearly 250 illustrations for the Post during his association with them.  “Leave the Past Behind” was painted to illustrate a story by the same name published in the magazine on May 21, 1938.

During World War I Harvey Dunn was one of eight American artists chosen by the Army Corps of Engineers to serve as official artists to depict the action at the front lines.  Dunn was commissioned as a Captain in the Engineers, serving from March 7, 1918 to April 26, 1919.  Many of his wartime illustrations were published in The American Legion Magazine, which was read by the Americans back home wanting to follow the activity of our troops.

After a successful illustration career, Dunn began making annual pilgrimages back to South Dakota where he began painting prairie scenes.  These have become perennial favorites within this region because they so realistically tell the story of our heritage.  In 1950, at the urging of friends in DeSmet, Harvey brought 42 of his paintings from his home in New Jersey to be shown in DeSmet at the Masonic Temple during the Old Settlers Day.  The exhibit was so popular Dunn remained in DeSmet for the summer to paint, exhibiting new pieces each day.  Over the 14 week residency over 5,000 visitors signed his guest book including the president of South Dakota State College (now SDSU) who brokered a deal with Dunn to leave his paintings in South Dakota at the college’s Pugsley Memorial Union.  Upon return to New Jersey, Dunn shipped an additional 38 canvases.  Dunn and his son traveled to Brookings to hang the paintings in their new home.  Today the Dunn collection is housed at the South Dakota Art Museum on the campus of SDSU.

For information on past exhibits in the Lamont Gallery, please click here