Stevan Dohanos (May 18, 1907 – July 4, 1994) was an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

of the

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

school, best known for his ''

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 ...

'' covers, and responsible for several of the ''Don't Talk'' set of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

posters. He named

Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 February 12, 1942) was an American painter and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''American Gothic'' (1930 ...

and

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

as the greatest influences on his painting.

Life

Dohanos was born in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 6 ...

and attended the Cleveland School of Art. He worked in fine art as well as in commercial art. In the 1930s he briefly experimented with lithography and wood etching. He was a member of the

National Society of Mural Painters The National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) is an American artists' organization originally known as The Mural Painters. The charter of the society is to advance the techniques and standards for the design and execution of mural art for the enri ...

and the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

. He was a founding faculty member of the

Famous Artists School Famous Artists School is an art correspondence course institution, in operation since 1948. The school was founded by members of the New York Society of Illustrators, principally Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. History The Famous Artists S ...

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

. Dohanos worked for the

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

of the U.S. Treasury Department, painting several

post office murals United States post office murals are notable examples of New Deal art produced during the years 1934–1943. They were commissioned through a competitive process by the United States Department of the Treasury. Some 1,400 murals were created fo ...

, including those for

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

and Charlotte Amalie. WPA Dohanos CA PO USVI 1

His first magazine illustration was for ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

'' in 1938. In the early 1940s, he moved to

, and in 1942 he sold his first cover painting to ''

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 ...

''. Dohanos went on to paint over 125 ''Post'' covers during the 1940s and 1950s. He also illustrated for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' and other magazines. In the 1960s he became chairman of the

Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee The United States Postal Service's Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) evaluates potential subjects for U.S. postage stamps and reports its recommendations to the Postmaster General, who makes the final decision. Purpose Each year, the Posta ...

, which selected art to appear on

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

. He selected art for over 300 postage stamps during the administration of seven Presidents of the United States and nine Postmaster Generals. In 1984, the Postal Service's Hall of Stamps in Washington was dedicated in his honor. His easel paintings and prints have been displayed in the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

, and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. He was nationally known as an illustrator and magazine cover artist, particularly for his work appearing in ''The Saturday Evening Post''. He was a member of the Dutch Treat Club in New York City

References

Sources

The United States Air Force Art Collection - Brief biography of Stevan Dohanos
- URL retrieved November 8, 2005

- URL retrieved December 22, 2005 *
"Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture"

Sources

*Delaney, Arthur A "Social realism in WPA-era post office murals", ''Stamps'', ISSN 0038-9358, 02/1995, Volume 250, Issue 9, p. 8 *Park, Marlene, ''Democratic vistas : post offices and public art in the New Deal'' Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984. *Siboroski, Paul Michael ''The production of art under the treasury section of fine arts during the new deal: six murals in the West Palm Beach Post Office by Stevan Dohanos'', Federal Art Project, 1988

External links

*

* ttps://digital.library.unt.edu/search/?q=dohanos%2C+stevan&t=dc.creator Stevan Dohanos posters hosted by th
University of North Texas Libraries Digital CollectionsStevan Dohanos tear sheets in the Charles Craver Collection at the Modern Graphic History Library"Award for Careless Talk"
Stevan Dohanos Museum of Modern Art
The Pop History Dig: The U.S. Post Office
features several Saturday Everning Post covers by Dohanos
Society of Illustrators
Hall of Fame inductee Stevan Dohanos
StevanDohanos.com
Gallery of Original Art by Stevan Dohanos {{DEFAULTSORT:Dohanos, Stevan Social realist artists 20th-century American painters American male painters American poster artists People from Lorain, Ohio Artists from Cleveland People from Westport, Connecticut 1907 births 1994 deaths Date of death missing Painters from Ohio American muralists American engravers American wood engravers Section of Painting and Sculpture artists American magazine illustrators Cleveland School of Art alumni 20th-century American male artists 20th-century engravers

Life

See also

References

Sources

Sources

External links