Harvey Dunn, N. A.

The gift the bronze records in one sentence began as a hometown show. In 1950 De Smet hung a retrospective of Dunn's prairie, illustration and war paintings in its Masonic Lodge; planned for a few days, it ran fourteen weeks and drew visitors from across the state and beyond. On August 24, 1950, Dunn signed a letter giving most of the works from that show to the people of South Dakota. They became the core of the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, whose Harvey Dunn Collection now numbers 145 works, the largest anywhere.

What the plaque says

Harvey Dunn, N. A. Born March 8, 1884, in homestead shanty 3 miles S, 1/2 mile E. to Thomas and Bersha Dunn, was one of three children. From rural school he entered State College, Brookings, in 1901 to study art under Ada B. Caldwell, of whom he wrote: "She took a loving, intelligent interest in what I was vaguely searching for . . . with my eyes on the horizon she taught me where to put my feet." He attended Art Institute, Chicago, 1902-04, and then studied two years under Howard Pyle, great illustrator, opening his own studio at Leonia, N.J., in 1906. He married Johanna Krebs in 1908. Success as an illustrator was immediate; he was also dedicated to teaching. A fellow artist said "The most valuable thing Dunn taught us was honest dealing with our fellow man and a constant gratitude to the Maker above for the privilege of seeing the sun cast shadows." Official A. E. F. artist in World War I, he painted many war scenes. He was elected to the National Academy of Design, among other honors. A painter of Westerns, marines and portraits, in 1950 he gave to the people of South Dakota, to hang at State College, a collection that included pioneering subjects. He preferred painting early South Dakota life to any other subjects, saying: "my search for other horizons led me around to my first." He died October 29, 1952. Erected 1958 by Johanna Krebs Dunn and State Highway Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ingalls Homestead and the De Smet Historic Homes — 8.6 mi
  The quarter section a mile from De Smet that Charles Ingalls filed on in 1880 and proved up in 1886, the house in town he built, and the cottonwoods he planted.

More markers nearby

• KELO-LAND Centennial Gold Rush — steps away
• Father Pierre Jean De Smet — 7.9 mi
• St. Petri Lutheran Church — 8.0 mi
• Wilder Homestead and Birthplace of Rose Wilder Lane — 8.5 mi