Brandfield, Dayton (1911-1993)

Born in the Bronx, New York, Brandfield studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Student’s League and Cooper Union. He was “an accomplished woodblock artist and lithographer active in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. He has been exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute, Los Angeles Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York Public Library” (A-D Magazine 6.5 [June-July 1940]). As of 1932 Brandfield was working at the New York Public Library; in 1939, his lithograph “Circus” was selected for a traveling WPA show that stopped in places like Butte, MT; Casper, WY; and Miami, OK. He moved to California at least by 1960 and lived in Grover Beach beginning in 1977, where he continued to work as a printmaker. 6 works at National Gallery of Art. 3 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 17 works at Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 works at Newark Museum. 1 work at Baltimore Museum of Art. 1 work at Detroit Institute of Arts. 3 more images at FAP.

 

Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Dayton Brandfield:

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Summer in the Berkshires
Summer in the Berkshires

This landscape portrays the rural mountainous region in western Massachusetts known as the Berkshires. Sketched entirely in black and white, the rolling hills and clusters of trees appear almost gloomy. A series of farms, divided by thin wire fences, make up the majority of the middle ground. The top half of the lithograph shows a series of light grey clouds, providing a sense of movement that parallels the tall, wispy grasses in the foreground.

brandfieldGVCA