By Frank Vincent Dumond
Located in Sheffield, MA
Frank Vincent Dumond
American, 1865-1931
Sunny Hedge
Oil on canvas
Signed "F.V. DuMond," lower right
24.5 in. by 29 in. W/frame 32.5 by 37 in.
Born in Rochester, New York in 1865, Frank DuMond left his work as an illustrator at age 23 to study in the rigorous classical atelier tradition of the Academie Julian Paris in 1888. Upon his return to New York in 1892, DuMond embarked on a painting and teaching term at the Art Students League spanning nearly six decades until his death.
A painter of diverse talents, he was an accomplished landscape, portrait and still life painter, muralist, and leader of the Tonalist then Impressionist art colonies of Lyme, Connecticut. In particular, DuMond was noted for his use of landscape green. American Impressionist expert William H. Gerdts wrote of DuMond, "As one might speak of Velazquez's blacks, one must speak of DuMond's greens." Scholars have described him as a deft painter of the American Impressionist landscape and the figure, but he will perhaps be remembered as among the most outstanding educators in American art history. Though an accomplished painter, he is said to have considered himself more of an educator than an artist.
By all accounts, DuMond is described by his students as a man whose art and teaching methods were based on deeply held religious and philosophical beliefs. One student recalls, "There were occasions when DuMond revealed a clear intent to educate us on a deeper level than might casually be associated with painting." His students remember him fondly as "a genial, generous, and perceptive instructor…whose warmth and kindness pervaded everything he did." Under his tutelage, many prominent American artists were brought to recognition, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, and John Marin. Still other protégés of DuMond renown became influential teachers, such as Baroque-style painter Frank Mason, whose influence emerged in New York at the Art Students League; and Arthur Maynard...
Category
1920s Post-Impressionist Berkshires
