James Dietz (born 1946), also known as Jim Dietz, is a contemporary artist known for his history paintings, particularly of subjects from the First and Second World Wars. He has been a member of the World War I Aviation Historical Hall of Fame, served as a board member of the Automotive Fine Artists of America. He has received awards for his work from the American Society of Aviation Artists and other arts organizations.

Early career

Dietz was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He graduated from the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred R. ...

in 1969. Following his graduation, Dietz moved to Los Angeles to work as a commercial illustrator. His work ranged from "automobile ads, movie posters, and romantic and historical/action book covers". After working in New York, Dietz and his family moved to Seattle in 1978. At this time he started to specialize in aviation art.

Major works

Dietz's major works include ''Maximum Effort'', a commission for the 449th Bomb Group Association who were veterans of the 15th Air Force, ''Arctic Convoy'', ''Fall of the Falcon'', ''Last Word'', and ''Yanks Mount Up''. His oil painting ''Bottom of the First'', which depicts U.S. soldiers on duty in the Philippines during the Second World War, was the winner of Best in Show in CAE Simuflight's Horizons of Flight Art Exhibition in 2000. His works are exhibited in different military museum collections. ''Citizen Soldier'' and ''The Crossing'', which depicts the 132nd Infantry Regiment at Guadalcanal, are currently on exhibit at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

. An exhibition of his work entitled ''Wood and Canvas: the WWI Aviation of James Dietz'' was on display at the

Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (WOTR) is located on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, United States. The museum preserves the history of Lowry AFB's operations from 1938 to 1994 in its collections, archives, and ...

through January 2014.

Influences

Dietz's combat art has been influenced by notable combat artists of past periods, including

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United State ...

Harvey Dunn Harvey Thomas Dunn NA (March 8, 1884 – October 29, 1952) was an American painter and teacher. He is best known for his prairie-intimate masterpiece, ''The Prairie is My Garden'' (1950). In this painting, a mother and her two children ar ...

Howard Brodie Howard Brodie (November 18, 1915 – September 19, 2010) was a sketch artist best known for his World War II, Korean and Vietnam combat and courtroom sketches. He worked as a staff artist for ''Life, Yank Magazine, Collier's, Associated Press'' ...

Kerr Eby Kerr Eby (19 October 1889 – 18 November 1946) was a Canadian illustrator best known for his renderings of soldiers in combat in the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. He is held in a similar regard to Harvey Dunn and th ...

, and

Thomas C. Lea III Thomas Calloway Lea III (July 11, 1907 – January 29, 2001) was an American muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist, and historian. The bulk of his art and literary works were about Texas, north-central Mexico, and his Worl ...

. His World War II paintings echo paintings of the American Civil War in their classicality and acceptance of war's brutality. As Dietz phrased it, "I had shot off my mouth about how I could really do a job on World War I flying, so I had to produce something." He believed that the relatively small size of aircraft and their frail structures, would make them ideal for compositions focused on people. These characters had been very prominent in his World War I pieces, that he earned "a reputation as an aviation painter who did not paint airplanes". He made many details right, which included czarist ration boxes and Austrian engine fittings.

Clients

* Boeing, Bell Helicopter, Federal Express, Allison Cessna, Flying Tigers, the Indianapolis 500, BMW, US Air Force Documentary Art Program, Wingnut Studios, Meadowbrook, Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the National Guard. *U.S. Army organizations and associations: the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army Rangers, Special Forces, 1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Division, 4th Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, The Command General Staff College, The United States Army War College.

Awards

* EAA Aviation Art Show from 1989–91. Ranked best in Show * Named Master Artist at the EAA in 1992 * Best in Show & three Best of Era Awards at the San Antonio Military Art Show, 1992 * Honorable Mention at the American Society of Aviation Artists Show, 1994 * Best in Show at the ''Flying'' Magazine/Simuflite Art Show, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 * Award of Merit at the ''Flying'' Magazine/Simuflite Art Show, 1995, 2000 * Best in Show at the Naval Aviation Museum Art Show, 1994, 2000 * First Place at the Naval Aviation Museum Art Show, 1995 * People's Choice Award for the American Society of Aviation Artists, 1988 * Best in Show at the

Franklin Mint The Franklin Mint is a private mint founded by Joseph Segel in 1964 in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The building is in Middletown Township. The brand name was previously owned by Sequential Brands Group headquartered in New York City, New York. It is ...

Artists Show, 1992 * R. G. Smith Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation Art,

National Naval Aviation Museum The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its curr ...

, Pensacola, FL, 1997 * Best in Show, Women in Aviation Show,

American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum The American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum (CRSM) is located on the campus of the American Airlines Flight Academy, which is situated at the southern end of DFW Airport, in the city limits of Fort Worth, Texas, and in close proximity to the worl ...

, Dallas, TX, 1997 * Stanley Wanlass Award, for excellence in strength of design and composition, echoing the spirit of the automobile,

Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance Meadow Brook Hall is a Tudor revival style mansion located at 350 Estate Drive in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was built between 1926 and 1929 by the heiress to the Dodge automaker fortune, Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, lumber bar ...

, 1997 * Featured Artist, Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance, 1999 * Award of Excellence, Automotive Fine Artists of America show at

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the pinnacle event of its kind and one of the most prestigious car events in ...

, 1999, 2000 * Peter Helck Award, Automotive Fine Artists of America show at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, 1999, 2000 * League of WWI Aviation Historians, four Silver Cups

References

External links

James Dietz
at Aviation Art Hangar
James Dietz, Richard Frank, & Paul Hastings on the 132nd Infantry Regiment on Guadalcanal
at the

Superman The Movie Portfolio by Jim Dietz
at taint-the-meat.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Dietz, James American war artists Aviation artists 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 1946 births Living people Art Center College of Design alumni Artists from San Francisco 20th-century American male artists