Eugene Dana

American, 1912 - 1996


Born in Marengo, IL in 1912, Eugene Dana spent his early childhood living in Clinton, Iowa. In 1936, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and received a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1937, he studied Modern painting at the St. Paul School of Art with artists LeRoy Turner and Cameron Booth. In 1941, he studied at Harvard University with with the noted Bauhaus instructor, Josef Albers.

Dana’s first teaching assignment was at the South High School in Minneapolis, MN. Moving to Chicago, Dana became a longtime Professor of Art at the Institute of Design (ID) from 1947-1963. From 1966-1985, he became an instructor at the University of Illinois, Chicago (Circle campus). During his years at the ID and University of Illinois, Dana worked closely with fellow artist and instructor, Richard Koppe. Dana organized the Richard Koppe retrospective at the University of Illinois in 1977 after the artist’s untimely death.

During his lifetime, Eugene Dana accepted numerous visiting teaching positions throughout the country, including those at Drake University, Des Moines, IA; Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Dana exhibited at such national venues as the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (Guggenheim Foundation), New York, NY; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; the University of Illinois, Chicago, IL and the St. Paul School of Art, St. Paul, MN, among others.

Together with his friend and colleague, Glenn Allen, the two artists established the Dana-Allen Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, of which his estate collection benefits.

Eugene Dana died in Harvard, IL in 1996.

  • Vis-a-Vis, 1986
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist’s painted frame
    41 3/4 x 48 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, lower right; Titled on label on reverse.

    #8553
  • Totem, 1986
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist’s painted frame
    57 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, lower center.

    #17489
  • Untitled (Abstraction), 1982
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist’s painted frame
    21 3/4 x 45 3/4 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, lower right.

    #17402
  • Hashira - E: Pillar Painting Light, 1987
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist’s painted frame
    56 x 16 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, upper right; Titled on label on reverse.

    #17490
  • The Tempest, Scenes from the Mask: The Naiads, 1994
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist’s painted frame
    37 3/4 x 25 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, upper left.

    #17406
  • Diptych: Visitation: Morning, Visitation: Evening, 1983
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist's original painted frame
    50 x 25 inches

    Each signed and dated Eugene Dana, 2-13-83 lower left; titled and dated on reverse.

    #8521
  • Blue Kilter, 1980
    Acrylic on canvas, in artist's original painted frame
    34 x 48 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated upper right; titled on label on reverse.

    #8556
  • Untitled (Abstraction), 1980
    Acrylic on canvas, in artist's original painted frame
    37 x 30 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana, 1980 lower left.

    #8558
  • Untitled (Abstraction), 1983
    Acrylic on Masonite, in artist's original painted frame
    45 x 31 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated lower right.

    #9490
  • Quattrocento, 1980
    Acrylic on board
    27 x 41 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana, 1980 lower left; signed and titled on label on reverse.

    #9488
  • Untitled (Abstraction)
    Oil on canvas
    18 x 18 inches
    #9483
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1938
    Oil on canvas
    34 x 22 1/4 inches
    #8514
  • Red and Gray (Octagon Three), 1943
    Oil on board
    31 1/2 x 24 inches

    Signed with initials and dated ED 4-43 lower right; signed, titled and dated on reverse.

    #8517
  • Princeton Totem, 1985
    Watercolor on paper
    25 1/2 x 12 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana 9/85, lower right; Inscribed lower left and titled lower center

    #19256
  • Ariel (From Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”), 1992
    Watercolor on paper
    20 x 15 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana 6.22.92, lower left, titled lower right; titled, dated and numbered reverse.

    #17499
  • Night Wings, 1979
    Watercolor and collage on paper
    14 3/4 x 28 1/4 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana 1979, lower right; titled, dated and numbered on label on reverse.

    #17504
  • Untitled (Abstraction), 1987
    Tempera and watercolor on paper
    26 1/2 x 37 1/2 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana and dated, upper right; Titled on label on reverse.

    #17491
  • Ovals, 1941
    Gouache and collage construction on artist board
    24 x 17 inches

    Signed with initials and dated E.D. 8-41, lower right; signed, titled and inscribed on reverse: Eugene Dana, August 1941, Cambridge, Mass.

    #8529
  • Bent Planes, 1939
    Gouache and colored pencil on paper
    15 x 25 1/4 inches

    Signed with initials and dated ED 8-1939, lower right; titled on label on reverse.

    #9479
  • Night, 1979
    Watercolor on paper
    24 x 29 inches

    Signed and dated Eugene Dana 1979, lower right.

    #8542
  • The Greens and Violets, 1955
    Gouache on paper
    22 x 12 inches

    Signed with initials and dated E.D. 1955, lower right; titled on label on reverse.

    #17498
  • Ibis, 1983
    Graphite and colored pencil on paper
    14 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches

    Signed Eugene Dana, lower right; dated lower right on sheet margin; titled and dated on label on reverse.

    #17503
  • Untitled (Four Cats), ca. 1940
    Woodcut on paper
    9 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches
    #9480

Born in Marengo, IL in 1912, Eugene Dana spent his early childhood living in Clinton, Iowa. In 1936, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and received a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1937, he studied Modern painting at the St. Paul School of Art with artists LeRoy Turner and Cameron Booth. In 1941, he studied at Harvard University with with the noted Bauhaus instructor, Josef Albers.

Dana’s first teaching assignment was at the South High School in Minneapolis, MN. Moving to Chicago, Dana became a longtime Professor of Art at the Institute of Design (ID) from 1947-1963. From 1966-1985, he became an instructor at the University of Illinois, Chicago (Circle campus). During his years at the ID and University of Illinois, Dana worked closely with fellow artist and instructor, Richard Koppe. Dana organized the Richard Koppe retrospective at the University of Illinois in 1977 after the artist’s untimely death.

During his lifetime, Eugene Dana accepted numerous visiting teaching positions throughout the country, including those at Drake University, Des Moines, IA; Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Dana exhibited at such national venues as the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (Guggenheim Foundation), New York, NY; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; the University of Illinois, Chicago, IL and the St. Paul School of Art, St. Paul, MN, among others.

Together with his friend and colleague, Glenn Allen, the two artists established the Dana-Allen Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, of which his estate collection benefits.

Eugene Dana died in Harvard, IL in 1996.

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