DeWitt Lockman began painting at the age of four in Brooklyn. By the age of seven, his family had moved to New York, where he worked with the animal painter James H. Beard. He later studied with Nelson Bickford and William Sartain. He was in Europe, principally in France, England and Holland, from 1891 to 1892 and again from 1901 to 1902. In the years between the two European trips, Lockman painted little, suffering from ill health. Resuming his artistic activities in the early years of the century, Lockman also served in the Office of Naval Intelligence from 1917 to 1918. He married Evelyn Walker in 1946.
Although his oeuvre also includes still life and animal pictures, Lockman was most successful as a portraitist, painting over 500 works in that genre. President Calvin Coolidge, General of the Armies John J. Pershing and Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler numbered among his more prominent sitters.
Lockman won numerous awards, including the Isaac N. Maynard portrait prize, at the National Academy in 1922, a gold medal at the New York Historical Society for art achievement in 1933 and a gold medal from the Allied Artists of America.
An active member of the art community, Lockman was an officer in many of the most important art organizations of his time. He was a founder and president of the National Association of Portrait Painters, a fellow in perpetuity and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a trustee of the New York Historical Society, a president of the Allied Artist of America. From 1923 to 1926, Lockman served on the National Academy's Council. He devoted time to various other organizations, including the Associates of the Art Commission of New York, the American Artists Committee of One Hundred, the Municipal Art Society, and
the American Artists Professional League, and was chairman
of the West Point civilian advisory committees on painting.
After his death, the Academy's Council noted that Lockman was one of its "most honored members, one who contributed greatly to the Academy," citing "his fine leadership" (NAD archives, letter, Corresponding Secretary to Mrs. DeWitt Lockman, October 10, 1957).
