Travel Poster Fly American Airlines Arizona Ivan Dmitri

Original vintage travel advertising poster Fly American To The Sun Country This Winter. Arizona Winter Resort. Ivan Dmitri (or Dmitre) (1900 – 1968), born Levon West, was an artist from the U.S. State of North Dakota. Born in Centerville, South Dakota, his father was a Congregational minister who immigrated from Armenia. The family changed their name to West when Levon and his brothers did not want to enlist in the service during World War I under their Armenian last name, Assadoorian. The name West was chosen as it was the maiden name of Levon's mother. Levon West adopted the pen name of Ivan Dmitri to use for his color photography. His etchings and watercolors were always done under his original name, Levon West. When he began working with color photography, Levon West adopted the pen name Ivan Dmitri, though he continued to use the name Levon West for his non-photographic works. Ivan Dmitri was a pioneer in color photography, and wrote several books on the subject, his first being, Color in Photography in 1939. The first color photographic cover on the Saturday Evening Post magazine (May 29, 1937)was by Dmitri, a photo of an Automobile racing driver seated in his race car. Another SEP cover, May 16, 1944, was a photo of General 'Hap' Arnold, with B-17's flying overhead, with a B-17 crew planning a flight. This cover was so popular that the United States used the photo image to print a very rare World War II (war effort) poster. As Ivan Dmitri, he helped to gain acceptance for photography as an art medium, and established one of the first photography exhibits at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dmitri felt that such a move was necessary in order for the public to treat photography as art, rather than just something reserved smaller mediums like books, magazines, and newspapers. In 1959, Ivan Dmitri founded Photography in the Fine Arts. Very good condition, few creases on margins. Country: USA. Year: 1950. Designer: Ivan Dmitri. Size (cm): 31.5 x 43.