In 1910 Dawson spent six months traveling throughout England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where he visited museums, collectors, and archeological sites. Following this sojourn, he created a series of works in 1911–12 based on images from classical art and Old Master paintings. Here, he reinterprets the mythological subject of the Three Graces by painting in a manner derived from both Cubism and Italian Futurism. Although Dawson did not receive much recognition during his lifetime, his avant-garde work was at the forefront of American art at the time.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): DAWSON 12
the artist (1912–d. 1969; his estate, 1969–78; sold in 1978 to Obi et al.); Lewis J. Obi, M. D., Frank McKeown, and Lefferts Mabie (from 1978); Myra Bairstow and Lewis J. Obi, M. D., New York (until 2007; their gift to MMA)
Milwaukee Art Society. "Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture in 'The Modern Spirit'," April 16–May 12, 1914, no. 90 (as "Meeting").
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Manierre Dawson," January 1923 (as "Meeting") [see Ref. Ploog and Bairstow 2011].
Grand Rapids Art Museum. "Retrospective Paintings by Manierre Dawson," April 3–24, 1966, no. 12 (as "Meeting—Graces").
Sarasota, Fla. John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. "Manierre Dawson: Paintings 1909–1913," November 6–26, 1967, no. 16 (as "Meeting [Graces]").
West Palm Beach, Fla. Norton Gallery and School of Art. "Manierre Dawson: Paintings 1909–1913," January 26–February 18, 1968, no. 16.
New York. Robert Schoelkopf Gallery. "Manierre Dawson," April 5–May 1, 1969, no. 18 (as "Meeting").
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Manierre Dawson (1887–1969): A Retrospective Exhibition of Painting," November 13, 1976–January 2, 1977, unnumbered cat. (p. 10; as "The Meeting [Three Graces]," 1911, lent by Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York).
Bloomington. Indiana University Art Museum. "Manierre Dawson (1887–1969): A Retrospective Exhibition of Painting," January 18–February 20, 1977, unnumbered cat.
College Park. Art Gallery, University of Maryland. "Manierre Dawson (1887–1969): A Retrospective Exhibition of Painting," March 29–May 1, 1977, unnumbered cat.
New York. Robert Schoelkopf Gallery. "Manierre Dawson: Paintings, 1910–1914," March 28–April 22, 1981, no. 12 (as "Three Graces—The Meeting").
Greenville, S. C. Greenville County Museum of Art. "Regional American Painting to 1920," November 6–December 30, 1990, unnumbered cat. (as "The Three Graces," lent by Tilden-Foley Gallery, New Orleans).
New York. Hollis Taggart Galleries. "Manierre Dawson: American Pioneer of Abstract Art," October 1–30, 1999, no. 28.
Manierre Dawson. Diary entries. December 16, 1912; December 12, 1913; February 8, 1914; April 17, 1914 [published in Ref. Adams and Ploog 1999, pp. 171, 174–75; Ref. Ploog and Bairstow 2011, pp. 322, 325–26].
George L. Hern Jr. "Norton Has New Trio of Exhibits." Palm Beach Post (January 29, 1968).
Mary M. Gedo. "Manierre Dawson: The Prophet in His Own Country." American Art Review 4 (December 1977), p. 123, calls it "The Meeting".
Mary Mathews Gedo. "Modernizing the Masters: Manierre Dawson's Cubist Transliterations." Arts Magazine 55 (April 1981), p. 143, fig. 31.
Mary Mathews Gedo. "The Secret Idol: Manierre Dawson and Pablo Picasso." Arts Magazine 56 (December 1981), p. 123, calls it "The Three Graces".
William H. Gerdts. Art Across America: Two Centuries of Regional Painting, 1710–1920. Vol. 2, The South, the Near Midwest. New York, 1990, p. 32.
Henry Adams and Randy J. Ploog. Manierre Dawson: American Pioneer of Abstract Art. Exh. cat., Hollis Taggart Galleries. New York, 1999, pp. 70, 158, 171, 174–75, no. 28, ill. (color).
Randy J. Ploog and Myra Bairstow. Manierre Dawson (1887–1969): A Catalogue Raisonné. Jacksonville and New York, 2011, pp. 34, 184, 302, 322, 325–26, no. 1912.15, ill. frontispiece (color) and p. 185.
Roberta Smith. "A Trans-Atlantic View of Modernism." New York Times (January 9, 2015), p. C30.
Norman Lewis (American, New York 1909–1979 New York)
1978
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