John Stockton de Martelly (1903–1979) was a lithographer, etcher, painter, illustrator, teacher and writer.

Early life

John de Martelly was born in 1903 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and studied at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...

, in Florence, Italy, as well as the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In the 1930s and 1940s, he taught printmaking at the

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approx ...

to the same students who studied painting with Thomas Hart Benton.

Works

De Martelly became a close friend of Benton, and was influenced by his Regionalist style. When Benton was fired from the Art Institute, the Board of Governors offered de Martelly Benton's job as head of the Painting Department. De Martelly was furious and quit. De Martelly's lithographs, sold through the Associated American Artists Galleries in New York in the 1930s and 1940s, captured the essence of the rural American landscape. In 1943, de Martelly began teaching at Michigan State University in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, where he was named artist-in-residence in 1946. By the late 1940s, de Martelly abandoned Regionalism for Abstract Expressionism and closely studied Daumier.

Death

He died in 1979.

Collections

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

* Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan *

Kresge Art Museum The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (colloquially MSU Broad), is a contemporary art museum at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It opened on November 10, 2012. History On June 1, 2007, Michigan State received a $28 millio ...

, East Lansing, Michigan *

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

, Kansas City, Kansas * Smithsonian American Art Museum

References

* The Artists Bluebook. Lonnie Pierson Dunbar, editor. March 2005. * Davenport's Art Reference. Ray Davenport. 2005. * Who Was Who in American Art. Peter Hastings Falk (editor). 1999 * Kansas City Regional Art. Associated American Artists. New York. 1940 1903 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Modern painters Artists from Philadelphia Kansas City Art Institute alumni 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American male artists {{US-artist-stub