John de Martelly explained

Birth Date:	1903
Birth Place:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Death Date:	1979
Death Place:	Okemos, Michigan, United States
Occupation:	Lithographer, etcher, painter, illustrator, educator, and writer

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

Early life

John de Martelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1903^[1] in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in Florence, Italy, as well as the Royal College of Art in London.^[2] In the 1930s and 1940s, he taught printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute 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.^[3] De Martelly was furious and quit.^[4] De Martelly's lithographs, sold through the Associated American Artists Galleries in New York in the 1930s and 1940s,^[5] captured the essence of the rural American landscape.

In 1943, de Martelly began teaching at Michigan State University in East Lansing, where he was named artist-in-residence in 1946.^{[6] [7] [8]} By the late 1940s, de Martelly abandoned Regionalism for Abstract Expressionism and closely studied Daumier.

Death

He died at the age of sevventy-six in Okemos, Michigan in 1979.

Collections

• Detroit Institute of Arts^[9]
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco^[10]
• Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan^[11]
• Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Kansas
• Smithsonian American Art Museum^[12]

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

Notes and References

1. Book: One Hundred American Paintings. Georgia Museum of. Art. Paul A.. Manoguerra. Janice. Simon. May 7, 2011. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia. 9780915977741. Google Books.
2. Web site: de Martelly. www.museum.state.il.us.
3. Book: Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton. Marianne. Berardi. Henry. Adams. January 1, 1993. Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. 9780961537227. Google Books.
4. Book: Adams, Henry. Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original. May 7, 1989. Knopf. 9780394759586. Google Books.
5. Web site: Art Digest. May 7, 1938. Art Digest, Incorporated. Google Books.
6. Book: Thomas, David. Michigan State College: John Hannah and the Creation of a World University, 1926-1969. May 7, 2008. Michigan State University Press. 9780870137723. Google Books.
7. Web site: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting. Encyclopaedia. Britannica. May 7, 1946. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated. Google Books.
8. Web site: Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan. Michigan Legislature House of. Representatives. May 7, 1975. Google Books.
9. Web site: You are being redirected.... www.dia.org.
10. Web site: John Stockton de Martelly. September 21, 2018. FAMSF Search the Collections.
11. Web site: Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: Public Tour: African American Artists of the KIA Collection.
12. Web site: John Stockton De Martelly | Smithsonian American Art Museum. americanart.si.edu.