william preston dickinson was an american modern artist, best known for his paintings of industrial subjects in the precisionist style.william preston dickinson was born on september 9, 1889 in new york city, a third-generation american in a working-class family. his father was an amateur painter who made a living as a calligrapher and interior decorator; he died when preston was only eleven years old. by 1906, his family had relocated to suffern, new york. dickinson studied between 1906 and 1910 at the art students league of new york under william merritt chase, as well as under ernest lawso…