Adolf Dehn (Adolf Arthur Dehn), the great-grandson of pioneers, was born in Waterville, Minnesota. Dehn was an illustrator, lithographer, and painter. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts from 1914-1917, and then received a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York, where he studied under Boardman Robinson.
Around 1921, Dehn traveled to Germany, France, England, and Vienna. He remained in Vienna until 1929, building a reputation as a satirical lithographer. In 1930, he relocated his studio to New York City. Until 1937, his work consisted entirely of black and white drawings and lithography. After 1937, his work was almost entirely in watercolor, though he occasionally worked with oil paint.
Dehn taught at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center in the summers of 1941 and 1942. He painted landscapes in Colorado in lithographs and watercolors. In 1943, he won First Prize at the International Watercolor Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. He coauthored a book with Lawrence Barrett published in 1950, How to Draw and Print Lithographs. Dehn frequently stayed in Woodstock, New York as the guest of Arnold Blanch. In Woodstock, Dehn participated in the affairs of the Artists Association. He was also a member of the Guggenheim Foundation.
Exhibited: MoMA; BMFA; NYPL; Soc. Am. Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, 1920; Minneapolis Inst. Art, 1927, 1931; Knoedler Gal., 19928; Nat. Univ. Mexico, 1929; Am. Inst. Graphic Arts, NYC, 1929-35; am. Printmakers Ann., NYC, 1929, 1930, 1932-35; Newark PL, 1929; Salons of Am., 1929; Weyhe Gal., NYC, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1938; BM, 1930; CMA, 1931; AIC, 1932, 1933, 1938, 1940-42, 1943 (prize), 1946, 1949; WMAA, 1933-62; Newport (RI) Art Assoc., 1933; Macbeth Gal., NYC, 1933; NAD, 1936; Assoc. Am. Artists, NYC, 1941, 1947; MMA, 1944; Brooklyn PL, 1944; LOC, 1946 (prize); Dayton Art Inst., 1946; Corcoran Gal., 1949-57; PAFA, 1950, 1952; Norton Gal. & School Art, West Palm Beach, 1951; Milch Gal., NYC, 1957, 1960, 1965, 1968; Drasner Gal., NYC, 1958; F>A.R. Gal., NYC, 1964, 1965, 1968; Amon Carter Mus., 1969; Studio North, Towson, MD, 1969; Kennedy Gal., NYC, 1971; Hirschl and Adler Gal., NYC, 1976; Jacques Baruch gal., Chicago, 1977; Harmon Gal., Naples, FL, 1981. Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship, 1939, 1951; prizes, Philadelphia Artists All., 1936; Philadelphia Print Club, 1939.
Works held: MMA, MoMa; WMAA; NYPL; BM; AIC; BMFA; CMA; Minneapolis Art Inst. Art; CAM; U.S. Navy; Standard Oil Co.; Newark Mus. Art; AGAA; SAM; Milwaukee AI; SFMA; Nat. Museum, Oslo, Norway; British Mus.; Kupferstich Kabinett, Berlin; The Albertina, Vienna; Honolulu Acad. FA; Fifty Prints of the Year, 1926-36; Woodstock AA.
Further Reading: The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. I. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds.,Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.; Woodstock Artists Association. Woodstock's Art Heritage: The Permanent Collection of the Woodstock Artists Association. Overlook Press: Woodstock, NewYork, 1987.
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