Alon Bement (1876–1954) was an American painter,
arts administrator, author, and teacher. He served as the
dean of
Traphagen School of Fashion from 1946 until 1951.
Early life and education
Alon Bement was born on August 15, 1876, in
Ashfield, Massachusetts.
His family was of French descendant, with a prior name of "Beaumont".
His family help found the town of
Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Bement graduated from
Boston Museum School of Fine Art in 1898,
and continued his studies first in Sweden then in Paris at
Académie Julian and
École des Beaux-Arts, studying under artists
Leon Bonnat and
Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant.
In 1902, Bement returned to New York City as a tutor at
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
and eventually rising in the ranks to an instructor role.
He was married to actress,
Katherine Emmet in 1914.
Career
From 1906 until 1919, he was a professor of Fine Arts at the
Teachers College, Columbia University.
At Columbia University, he worked closely with his colleague
Arthur Wesley Dow.
Bement was a painter of
dazzle (also known as camouflage) and he proposed using dazzle in commercial cargo ships, to reduce loss during the recession of 1919–1920.
In 1920 until 1921, he was a director at
Maryland Institute College of Art in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland.
In 1925, he became the director of the Art Centre, which was a federation of various art groups located 65 East Fifty Sixth Street in New York City.
In 1932, the
National Alliance of Art and Industry merged with the Art Centre however Bement continued in his role, eventually leaving in 1938.
While at the National Alliance of Art and Industry, he directed a 1936 film ''We Are All Artists'', created in partnership for the
Harmon Foundation.
The film illustrates the changes in design in the early 20th century through use of classic fine art composition theory.
Late in life and death
From 1943 until 1945 during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Bement moved to
Concord, New Hampshire, and served as director of the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts, which had at the time 23 campuses across the state.
From 1946 until 1951, Bement moved back to New York City and served as the dean of the Traphagen School of Fashion, where he also taught classes in interior design.
Bement additionally served as the director of the
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
WIXAL, Boston.
Bement was a member of the
Salmagundi Club in New York City, listed in 1907.
Bement died on November 22, 1954, in New York City.
He taught many students over the years, most notably was
Georgia O’Keeffe who also served as his teaching assistant.
Bibliography
Books by Bement
*
*
References
External links
*
We Are All Artists (film), (1936) film directed by Alon Bement, from the National Archives Catalog,
National Archives and Records Administration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bement, Alon
1876 births
1954 deaths
People from Ashfield, Massachusetts
School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni
American arts administrators
Teachers College, Columbia University faculty
Académie Julian alumni
American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts
Painters from New York City