Ivan Dmitri (or Dmitre) (b. February 3, 1900; d. April 25, 1968), born Levon Fairchild West (Assadoorian), was an American

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and photographic artist. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Early years

West was born in Centerville,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, to Avedis Madros West and Henrietta West. His father was a Congregational minister, who immigrated from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. The family changed its name to "West" when Levon and his brothers did not want to enlist in the service during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

under their Armenian last name, Assadoorian. The name West was chosen as it was the maiden name of Levon's mother. Levon West adopted the pen name of "Ivan Dmitri" to use for his color photography work. His etchings and watercolors were always done under his original name, Levon West. Levon West moved often as a boy, as his father preached in a series of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

towns. His father was pastor at the Congregational Church in Glen Ullin, from 1914 to 1918, when the family moved to

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

. West graduated from Harvey High School as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. He served in the Navy in WWI. When the war ended, West taught school in

Wells County, North Dakota Wells County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,982. Its county seat is Fessenden. History The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on January 4, 1873. Its government was not ...

. After that, he attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, graduating in 1924. He wanted to take almost entirely art courses in college, but his father insisted that he major in business administration.

Professional career

While studying at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, West formed an aviation corporation with friends. They serviced planes at Roosevelt Field on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. One day he noticed a different type of plane and did sketches of it. This plane belonged to

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

. When West heard Lindbergh had flown the

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

on a record breaking trans-Atlantic flight, he hurriedly did an etching from his sketches and took it to the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

. The paper asked how much he wanted for it and he said, "I don’t care how much I get for it, but put my name on it good and big at the bottom." When the newspaper came out the next day with his etching on the front page, demand for his work followed. He was contacted by the

Kennedy Galleries Kennedy Galleries is one of the oldest art galleries in the United States. It was founded by Hermann Wunderlich in 1874 under the name of Hermann Wunderlich & Co. When Wunderlich died in 1892, Edward G. Kennedy took over the gallery, whose name was ...

in New York the following day. This led to a series of successful etchings and national prominence. West was also a skilled

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. When he began working with color photography, Levon West adopted the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"Ivan Dmitri," though he continued to use the name "Levon West" for his non-photographic work. Ivan Dmitri was a pioneer in color photography and wrote several books on the subject, his first being ''Color in Photography'', in 1939. The first color photographic cover on ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' magazine (May 29, 1937) was by Dmitri, a photo of an automobile racing driver seated in his race car. Another ''SEP'' cover (May 16, 1944) was a photo of General 'Hap' Arnold, with B-17's flying overhead, with a B-17 crew planning a flight. This cover was so popular that the United States government used the photo image to print a very rare World War II war effort poster. As Ivan Dmitri, he helped to gain acceptance of photography as an art medium, and established one of the first photography exhibits at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Dmitri believed that such a move was necessary in order for the public to treat photography as art, rather than just something reserved for smaller mediums like books, magazines and newspapers. Beginning in 1959, Dimitri organized a series of exhibitions titled "Photography in the Fine Arts." West was a recipient of the North Dakota

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Rough Rider Award The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award is an award presented by the governor of the state of North Dakota. It is bestowed upon prominent North Dakotans. Recipients ''Note: date in parentheses indicates date of award'' *Lawrence Welk, entertaine ...

in April 1962, the third person so inducted.

Personal life

In 1943, West married Louise Remington. West died on April 25, 1968, age 68, at

New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as New York Hospital or Old New York Hospital or City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the teaching hospital for Cornell University. ...

in New York City. Website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dmitri, Ivan 20th-century American photographers Artists from North Dakota 1900 births 1968 deaths Carlson School of Management alumni People from Wells County, North Dakota People from Morton County, North Dakota Artists from South Dakota American people of Armenian descent United States Navy personnel of World War I People from Centerville, South Dakota Olympic competitors in art competitions