Artist

Ross Dickinson

born Santa Ana, CA 1903-died La Jolla, CA 1978
Also known as
  • Ross Edward Dickinson
Born
Santa Ana, California, United States
Died
La Jolla, California, United States
Biography

Long before Ross Dickinson received any formal training, he experimented with oil paint and educated himself through reading. Awarded a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Dickinson studied with Frank Tolles Chamberlin (1873–1961) and became interested in mural painting. In 1926 Dickinson spent nine months in New York City studying with John Costigan at the Grand Central School of Art and Charles Hawthorne at the National Academy of Design; he also received a scholarship from the Tiffany Foundation. Dickinson returned to California later that year and studied at the Santa Barbara School of Fine Arts, where he received his first mural commission.

He soon married sculptor Daisy Hanson, and they established themselves, albeit under adverse financial conditions, as artists and teachers in Santa Barbara. Dickinson depicted the varying California landscape and men and women at work, which often aligned him with California regionalism. By 1934 he was involved in the Public Works of Art Project, which led to numerous mural commissions in the mid-1930s. His later work displays a stylistic change, as he moved toward freer brushwork in fast-drying acrylics through the 1950s and 1960s. He continued to work and exhibit in the southern California area until his death in Santa Barbara in 1978.

National Museum of American Art (CD-ROM) (New York and Washington D.C.: MacMillan Digital in cooperation with the National Museum of American Art, 1996)

Works by this artist (24 items)

Edward Kemeys, Grizzly Bear at Bay, 1871-1885, painted plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1895.10.3
Grizzly Bear at Bay
Date1871-1885
painted plaster
On view
Edward Kemeys, Buffalo and Wolves, 1876, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of J. Willis Johnson, 1984.141.2
Buffalo and Wolves
Date1876
bronze
On view
Edward Kemeys, Prairie Chicken, ca. 1870s, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Charlotte J. Patterson and Herbert L. Patterson in memory of Elizabeth Z. Patterson, 2002.78
Prairie Chicken
Dateca. 1870s
bronze
Not on view
Edward Kemeys, Small Panther Lying Down, ca. 1870-1907, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of J. Willis Johnson, 1984.141.12
Small Panther Lying Down
Dateca. 1870-1907
plaster
Not on view

Related Books

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1934: A New Deal for Artists
During the Great Depression, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) enlisted artists to capture “the American Scene” in works of art that would embellish public buildings across the country. Although it lasted less than one year, from December 1933 to June 1934, the PWAP provided employment for thousands of artists, giving them an important role in the country’s recovery. Their legacy, captured in more than fifteen thousand artworks, helped “the American Scene” become America seen.