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James Edward Allen
1894–1964
BirthplaceLouisiana, Missouri, United States of America
Death placeLarchmont, New York, United States
BiographyJames E. Allen is noted for his prints on the theme of American industry and the heroic worker. A Montana native, Allen enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago's prestigious school in 1911 to study painting and drawing. Several years later, he was in New York City working as an illustrator for popular periodicals, including Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post; he was also a staff artist for the book publisher Doubleday, Page and Company. In 1919, following World War I service as a fighter pilot, he married artist Grace Parmelee (1899–?) and resumed his career as a commercial illustrator in New York.
In the early 1920s, Allen studied etching with Joseph Pennell at the Art Students League in New York. Yet he did not make his first etching until 1925 in Paris, where he shared a studio with fellow American artist Howard Cook. He drew inspiration from cubism, an artistic approach in which forms are rendered in semi-abstract arrangements of their component planes and angles, from the powerful figural paintings of French artist Georges Rouault (1871–1958), and from the structurally rigorous compositions of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). To perfect his own robust figurative style, he adopted the academic practice of drawing from the model. Allen returned to New York in 1930. During the depression, he managed to find work in commercial illustration while he continued training at the Art Students League and studied with Arshile Gorky at the Grand Central Art School. Allen also pursued printmaking, studying etching privately with William Auerbach-Levy (1889–1964), an accomplished etcher of portraits and a popular caricaturist. In 1932, Allen first entered his prints in juried exhibitions and that year he received prizes from the Society of American Etchers and New York's Salmagundi Club. Throughout the 1930s, his prints were regularly shown to critical acclaim at several New York galleries and in national graphic arts exhibitions. Allen specialized in realistically rendering the construction of colossal bridges and skyscrapers, and in images of factory workers.
When the Sinclair Refining Company commissioned him to update its dinosaur logo, Allen made scientific studies at the American Museum of Natural History, which prompted a series of lithographs of dinosaurs and modern wildlife. In 1937, he received a commission to create twelve lithographs for the United States Pipe and Foundry Company; these featured laborers installing giant pipe sections and laying pipelines in varied terrain. The following year, the Graphic Arts Division of the Smithsonian's Museum of American History presented a solo exhibition of Allen's work, further elevating his stature as a master printmaker. In 1943, having created more than ninety prints, Allen abandoned printmaking for painting. He studied with abstract painter Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) and exhibited his compositions at a solo show at New York's Rehn Gallery in 1950. Sadly, a degenerative brain disease curtailed his career; he died fourteen years later.
In the early 1920s, Allen studied etching with Joseph Pennell at the Art Students League in New York. Yet he did not make his first etching until 1925 in Paris, where he shared a studio with fellow American artist Howard Cook. He drew inspiration from cubism, an artistic approach in which forms are rendered in semi-abstract arrangements of their component planes and angles, from the powerful figural paintings of French artist Georges Rouault (1871–1958), and from the structurally rigorous compositions of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). To perfect his own robust figurative style, he adopted the academic practice of drawing from the model. Allen returned to New York in 1930. During the depression, he managed to find work in commercial illustration while he continued training at the Art Students League and studied with Arshile Gorky at the Grand Central Art School. Allen also pursued printmaking, studying etching privately with William Auerbach-Levy (1889–1964), an accomplished etcher of portraits and a popular caricaturist. In 1932, Allen first entered his prints in juried exhibitions and that year he received prizes from the Society of American Etchers and New York's Salmagundi Club. Throughout the 1930s, his prints were regularly shown to critical acclaim at several New York galleries and in national graphic arts exhibitions. Allen specialized in realistically rendering the construction of colossal bridges and skyscrapers, and in images of factory workers.
When the Sinclair Refining Company commissioned him to update its dinosaur logo, Allen made scientific studies at the American Museum of Natural History, which prompted a series of lithographs of dinosaurs and modern wildlife. In 1937, he received a commission to create twelve lithographs for the United States Pipe and Foundry Company; these featured laborers installing giant pipe sections and laying pipelines in varied terrain. The following year, the Graphic Arts Division of the Smithsonian's Museum of American History presented a solo exhibition of Allen's work, further elevating his stature as a master printmaker. In 1943, having created more than ninety prints, Allen abandoned printmaking for painting. He studied with abstract painter Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) and exhibited his compositions at a solo show at New York's Rehn Gallery in 1950. Sadly, a degenerative brain disease curtailed his career; he died fourteen years later.