Frank Virgil Dudley (1868-1957)
| The Historical Society of Ogden Dunes is proud to sponsor a program by author James Dabbert about local dunes Frank V. Dudley on Sunday, April 13, 2008. The program includes several Dudley paintings never exhibited in public.
Dudley lived during summers in what is now the Indiana Dunes State Park about ten miles east of Ogden Dunes. He was seen painting on the east side of Ogden Dunes by residents in the area now called Burns Ditch (and area soon to become the City of Portage beach on Lake Michigan). We are uncertain what became of Dudley’s paintings in this area, but the subject matter was likely the dune landscape transformed into flat sand terrain by the buillding of Midwest Steel. Much has been written about Mr. Dudley in detail better left to professional writers. Here are a few resources you might find interesting.
Here are a few links to other excellent resources: American Art Review, 2006, by James Dabbert: http://www.iit.edu/departments/humanities/documents/am_art_review-dabbert_2006.pdf Valparaiso University, Brauer Museum of Art, 2006: http://www.valpo.edu/events/dudley/about.php Ask Art, artist compendium website: http://www.askart.com/askart/d/frank_virgil_dudley/frank_virgil_dudley.aspx |
“The Indiana Dunes Revealed – The Art of Frank V. Dudley” published 2006 by University of Illinois Press. Edited by James Dabbert, this comprehensive work includes wonderful essays by James R. Dabbert, J. Ronald Engel and Joan Gibb Engel, Wendy Greenhouse and William E. Gerdts. Filled with many images of Dudley’s paintings that were shown at Valparaiso University’s Brauer Museum of Art showing of Dudley paintings from August 15 to November 30, 2006. Available via 
