United States 1887-1969 Oil on panel, 1913 Museum purchase with
funds provided by the Leona G. Landberge Bequest © San Diego
Museum of Art By producing his first abstract paintings as early
as 1910, Dawson joins Arthur Dove, Abraham Walkowitz, Morgan
Russell, and Konrad Cramer, as one of the most avant-garde
painters in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth
century. Born and raised in Chicago to a family who had been
part of the city’s cultural life for generations, Dawson trained
as a civil engineer before joining the design department of the
distinguished Chicago architectural firm of Holabird and Roche.
The fact that painting was his avocation makes Dawson’s
pioneering efforts in modern art all the more remarkable. Dawson
was well acquainted with avant-garde trends in painting. For
example, during his visit to Europe in 1910 he dined in Siena
with John Singer Sargent and spent a Saturday evening at the
Paris salon of Gertrude Stein. In December 1912 he was asked to
submit works to the Armory