Dine - "Untitled (Hearts)" Pop Art watercolor painting of six multicolored hearts

Jim Dine • American B: 1935

Untitled (Hearts) C: 1976 • Watercolor on Paper 16” x 20”

The boy creates the man, who returns the favor. It is the story of Jim Dine’s life.

As characterized in his interviews, his father was a worthless bum. His mother died young, leaving 12 year old Jim to raise himself. A job he did magnificently well. He put himself through night school at the University of Cincinnati’s Art School and Ohio University before heading for New York City. There he fell in with a group of rebellious artists who changed the direction of modern art. One of the earliest Pop Art exhibits included works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jim Dine.

Dine burst on the scene with his early 1960’s “Happenings” combined art and theater to bring joyous irreverence to an art world that took itself way too seriously. He worked with other emerging artists to reject the solemnity of Abstract Expressionism and explore the artistic value of everyday objects. Along the way he injected humor, emotion and excitement into an art scene that had gone stale.

His restless energy kept him constantly on the move. He hustled his way from a deprived childhood to the stratosphere of popular culture. “Even when I lived with my wife and family in Vermont, I was always taking off to Europe and other faraway places. I just couldn’t stay still.”

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At any particular time, Dine was a graphic artist, fine artist, sculptor, poet and musician. He took the Abstract out of Abstract Expressionism and replaced it with pure artistic expression of human nature. It is little wonder that hearts were a recurring meme in his art.

“(the hearts) are mine and I use it as a template for all my emotions. It’s like Indian classical music – based on something very simple but building to a complicated structure. And that’s how I feel about my hearts.”

In old age, Dine still stays on the move between homes in Walla Walla, Washington, New York City, and constant travels to Paris, Germany and India among other global adventures. Over the decades he has created a wide-ranging collection of art built around iconic images, including hearts, Venus De Milos,, bathrobes, tools and Pinocchio. Yes, Pinocchio.

“(Pinnochio) is a great story because it’s a metaphor for art. This old man brings the puppet to consciousness through his craft, and in the end, I am Gepetto.” The boy creates the man, who returns the favor.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Purchased in Memory of Ted Luntz Family, 2011.7

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“Hearts were just one of the many common objects Dine used over and over again. Others included robes, tools and Pinocchio.”

2.
“You know, dyslexia made Dine a poor student, more drawn to graphics than words, although he grew to love poetry.”

3.
“Back in the 80s Dine created a series of sculptures and paintings that used images of the Venus de Milo.”

4.
“Disney asked him to create art based on Pinocchio, but rejected his work as ‘too dark’ when he based it on the original 1883 story rather than the Disney movie.”

Dine Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1935

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Attended Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati.

1947

His mother died when Dine was only 12 years old. He described his father as “a bum,” so essentially raised himself.

1957

Earned BFA from Ohio University. Said “I went to art school because it was better than regular school.”

1959-62

Staged a series of “Happenings” in New York City with musician John Cage, a fellow native Ohioan. These chaotic performances combined art, performance and music in a humorous style that stood in sharp contrast to the scholarly, somber mood of the Expressionists in vogue at the time.

1962

Exhibited in a groundbreaking Pop Art exhibit “New Paintings of Common Objects” at the Norton Simon Museum. This show included artists Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Wayne Thiebaud and fundamentally altered the nature of modern art.

1966

Police raided an exhibit of his work at the Robert Fraser Gallery in London and seized works under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959. Dine’s work was found to be indecent, but not obscene and he ended up paying a small fine.

1967

Moved to London with his wife and three children. Rock musical “Hair” opened in the same year Off-Broadway. According to the show’s co-writer, James Rado, the name was inspired by a Jim Dine piece titled “Hair.”

1971

Returned to America.

Early 1980s

Sculpture began to take a major portion of his time, shifting emphasis from his drawing and paintings.

1983

Jim Dine was elected to the National Academy of Design as an associate member. He became a full Academician in 1994.

1984

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis assembled the first major single exhibit of his work, titled: “Jim Dine: Five Themes.”

Late 1900s

At the request of a Disney executive, Dine completed his first Pinocchio painting. He used Carlo Collodi’s 1883 story of the blockhead puppet who wants to be a boy as inspiration, rather than the light-hearted Disney movie. Disney declined the painting for being too dark and disturbing.

2004

National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.) organized the exhibition: “Drawings of Jim Dine.”

2008

Completed a large bronze statue of Pinocchio to the city of Boras, Sweden. This is the first of his many Pinocchio statues.

2005

Married photographer Diana Michener, who had already been his life partner for 15 years before.

Today

Jim Dine continues to live with wife, photographer Diana Michener, in both Walla Walla, Washington, and New York City. They maintain multiple studios in both cities and travel widely.