Artist

Dennis Burlingame

born Oneida, NY 1901-died New York City 1964
Media - burlingame_dennis.jpg - 89960
Courtesy Charles Rosen Papers, Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution.
Also known as
  • Dennis M. Burlingame
  • Dennis Meighan Burlingame
Born
Oneida, New York, United States
Died
New York, New York, United States
Active in
  • Cresco, Pennsylvania, United States
Biography

Dennis Burlingame traveled with the circus as a young man, taking any odd job that he could. He soon tired of a life constantly on the move, however, and left the circus to create murals and stage scenery for high schools. The artist Grant Wood discovered him painting “sweet, conventional” landscapes and encouraged him to create images inspired by his own experiences instead (Jewett, “Works of Olive Rush . . .” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 23, 1933). Burlingame participated in the New York branch of the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, painting images inspired by the circus and his life in the city.