HELEN DUNHAM

(American, 1911-1994)

STILL-LIFE

Oil on Canvas

28 x 22 Inches

Signed Lower Center 'Dunham'
Provenance: San Francisco Museum of Art

(Accession No. D101446)

Exhibited: San Francisco Women Artists 21st Annual Exhibition, November 8-December 1, 1946

President's Purchase Prize Winner

Born in Medford, Oregon, Helen Dunham moved to San Francisco in 1934. She first studied under Alexander Archipenko and later with Hans Hofmann at the California School of Fine Arts.  Known for her oil paintings and serigraphs, Dunham exhibited primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, including at the San Francisco Art Association and the San Francisco Association of Women Artists. We are pleased to offer this dramatic still-life by Dunham which was awarded the President’s Prize at the 1946 San Francisco Museum of Arts 21st exhibition of the San Francisco Women Artists Association. The work was acquired by the museum at that time and, for over sixty years, it has remained in the museum’s permanent collection.  Recently de-accessioned, it represents an unusual opportunity to acquire a significant and decorated modernist painting with impeccable

museum provenance.

Reference:

Artists in California 1786-1940, Hughes, Vol. I, p, 331; Davenport’s Art Reference Guide, 2007/8 Edition, p. 765; Artnet.com; AskArt.com; et al.