Morgan Dennis. West Martello Tower, Key West, 1956. Watercolor, 12 by 16 inches.
Morgan Dennis had a long history in Florida, first in Key West and later in Fort Myers. Dennis was famous for his illustrations of dogs. Born in Boston, he was selling sketches for comic strips to the Boston Globe before he finished high school. After graduation Dennis worked for the Boston Herald, on the night shift, drawing cartoons and dizzy blondes. Dennis was the author of The Morgan Dennis Dog Book and famously, in 1946, the creator of the Black and White Scotties for the Black and White Scotch Whiskey Company.
With success, Morgan began to spend his winters in Key West, living on his houseboat, The Sea Dog, docked off South Roosevelt Boulevard. The Key West Citizen, March 11, 1949 describes one of his appearances in the city, and the origin of his work with dogs: “Morgan Dennis whose appearance at the Annual Ball of the Humane Society Saturday night, at Raul’s will be the featured attraction of the evening, can remember how his diversified career started out with an innocent Christmas card. Although he does not remember drawing many dogs up to that time, one Christmas he used a pose of his Airedale puppy, Bozo, on his personal card, which he sent out to friends, among whom was Robert MacBeth of the MacBeth Galleries in New York. Mr. MacBeth’s immediate response was to ask for a signed print, which he sent to Scribners, who subsequently reproduced it for circulation in the Fifth Avenue shopping section, priced at a low figure and sponsored by the MacBeth Galleries. Immediately, there came a flood of orders, faster than the prints could be signed, followed by letters asking if the artist could do a series of other breeds of dogs. That is how, and when, Mr. Dennis became a specialist in dog subjects. Another specialty, for which Mr. Dennis is noted, is his portrait work of children and their dogs.”
On February 25, 1950 Morgan helped officially open the Children’s Room of the Key West Public Library, with his pup puppets, and a reading from his books, The Pup Himself and Burlap, The Hound Dog Extra-ordinary.” The Key West Citizen reviewed his exhibit at the East Martello Tower, January 11, 1957: “The media of watercolor has liberated Morgan Dennis, who is known the world over for illustrations. His current show…reveals to a large crowd of enthusiastic viewers the evident personal pleasure which Dennis takes in his work as a painter. The fresh, expanded and scintillating quality of his way with the brush was never more in evidence. He paints with ease and freedom, a dash of humor, a fine sense of balance and love of sparkling color. His draughtsman-ship is near perfection, yet there is a feeling imparted which is that of relaxation. Nearly all of the watercolors hung in the show…deal with waterfront and shore scenes…most of them are representative of Key West…Some of the work could be utilized as illustration material for travel magazines…One…view was a typical Saturday afternoon on Duval Street with busy traffic, crowds of tourists, sailors, women with dogs and children, and ‘natives’ moving under the welter of signs…The lyric quality is there like poetry in color. Radiance of personality and the sprightly outlook of ‘bon vivant’ fairly sing the delight and verve of the artist as he looks about him, and paints what he sees and feels. Blues, greens, violets, soft and luminous or crystalline clear, predominate. Variations into wisteria, jacaranda blue, aqua, pale azure or deep lapis lazuli touch the range of blue. The greens he uses may be emerald, jade or lettuce green shading into deep olive. All are beautifully blended…For Key West residents, there is a special joy in seeing places familiar and beloved. Capturing for living memory are Monroe Beach, with animation: the studio apartment of the Hemingway estate; West Martello entrance with lantern, gun and bell outside the arch of brick; a shrimp boat named ‘Dorothy’ heading for Campeche Banks; a Seminole woman in a dugout canoe poling her way along a canal; Roosevelt Boulevard with seawall and inviting water; net menders at work; mangroves off Boca Chica Beach; pelicans and fishermen; boats in dry dock; cottages on little lanes; the historic old forts; gossiping Negro shrimp workers; fenced backyards, rows of palms; and one oblong panel picture, ‘Storm Over Key West,’ which has a majestic vista. Well over 60 paintings…The entire show is captivating.” Many years later Dennis ran an Art School at Ft. Myers Beach.
Born: February 27, 1892, Boston, Massachusetts.
Died: 1960, Key West.
Education: With W.H.W. Bicknell, in Provincetown, Massachusetts; Stanhope Forbes.
Membership: Key West Art and Historical Society; The Little Gallery, Key West; Fort Myers Beach Art Association.
Exhibits: Fort Myers Beach, American Legion Hall, January 1949; Key West Art and Historical Society, 1st Annual Local Art Exhibition, West Martello Art Gallery, February 1950; East Martello Gallery, one man exhibit, over sixty watercolors, January 1957; Key West Artists Group, Annual Outdoor Fair, February 1957; East Martello Gallery, January 1958; Marathon Montmartre Exhibit, Buccaneer Lodge, February 20-23, 1958; Key West Art and Historical Society, Members’ Art Show, East Martello Gallery and Museum, April 1958, watercolors, Key West Waterfront, Tropical Hat Shop, Snapper Hole caseins, Nude On Sofa, Nude with Humming Bee, Nude Reclining; The Little Gallery, Duval Street, Key West, one man show; East Martello, December 1958, Beacon Hill, Pouring, Cape Cod Dunes, Back Street-Key West, Scott’s Bluff-Nebraska, The Gumbo Limbo; Marathon Montmartre Outdoor Art Exhibit, February 12-15, 1959; Key West Artists’ Street Fair, February 1959. Illustrator, Everybodys Dog Book; Crazy Dog; The Little Puppy Who Learned to Behave Book; Hans: A Dog of the Border Patrol; Yipe, The Story of a Farm Dog; Gypsy Lad: The Story of a Champion Setter; Pure Breed; Ranger: A Dog of the Forest Service; The Cat That Went to College; Kitten on the Keys; Twelve Famous Dog Studies by Morgan Dennis for Framing; Sheraton Russell Hotel bar, New York City, mural; Macbeth Gallery, NYC.
