James Dietz
James Dietz
2203 13th Ave E
Seattle, WA, 98102
USA
Tel: 1-206-325-1151
Fax: 1-206-709-4683
A historical painting stands or
falls on how well it depicts the story it is attempting to illustrate, and how
convincingly it combines the people, their actions, costumes, surroundings and
atmosphere in an appropriate composition. A good historical painting uses all
of these elements to tell the major story and perhaps a second subtext. Both
are driven by how interesting the situation is that the artist is attempting to
render. How the viewer reacts to a great painting transcends its immediate
story and strikes a deeper chord, one that hopefully evolves and changes as the
viewer contemplates the art over time.
It is this last and most worthy
goal that artists like James Dietz aspire to. In his portrait of events in the
20th and 21st Centuries, he labors to achieve that rare combination of
historical fact and the romance, adventure and color of fiction. Born in San
Francisco, Jim graduated from Art Center College of Design in 1969. He had a
successful illustration career in Los Angeles and New York, with a steady flow
of work ranging from automobile ads, movie posters, and romantic and
historical/action book covers.
By 1978, Jim and his
wife had moved to Seattle, where Jim’s work gradually shifted away from
commercial illustration to primarily historical aviation, automotive and
military art. Today his work is internationally known and collected, and his
style, with its emphasis on depth of story, is recognized by collectors of
historical artJim has been a member of the World War I Aviation
Historical Hall of Fame, an Artist Fellow of the American Society of Aviation
Artists and a member of the Automotive Fine Art Society. He had
one-man shows at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Museum in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin in 1990, 1998 and 2003; San Diego Air & Space Museum in 1990; and
the US Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in 2003. In 2001,
Barnes & Noble Publishing released a book on Jims World War II art,
entitled Portraits of Combat. In 2005, Jim fulfilled a childhood dream when he
got the opportunity for a cameo role in Peter Jacksons (Lord of the Rings)
remake of King Kong. Jim plays the role of a pilot of the Curtis Helldiver
aircraft which fires at Kong while he is perched high above New York on the
Empire State Building.
Jim and his wife, Patti, live in Seattle with
their dog, Sarah, who shares the distinction with previous Dietz pets, of being
a regular in Jims paintings. Their son, Ian, is currently an officer serving in
the U.S. Army. Jim works in a warm, pleasantly cluttered studio that resembles
a WWI aviation bar, surrounded by uniforms, props and models that have made
their way into paintings over the years.