Arthur Dove (1880-1946) .04% 20 x 12 in. (50.8 x...
PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED EAST COAST COLLECTION
Arthur Dove (1880-1946)
.04%
oil on canvas
20 x 12 in. (50.8 x 30.5 cm.)
Painted in 1942.
Provenance
Helen Spangler (née Torr) Dove (1886-1967), New York, wife of the artist, by descent from the artist, 1946.
Estate of the above, 1967.
Terry Dintenfass Gallery, Inc., New York, consigned from the above, 1970.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, acquired from the above, 1983.
Private collection, New York, acquired from above, 1985.
By descent to the present owner from the above, 2010.
Exhibited
New York, An American Place, Arthur G. Dove: Exhibition of Recent Paintings (1941-1942), April 14-May 27, 1942, no. 5.
San Francisco Museum of Art, Dove, April, 1947. (as 04%)
Lynchburg, Virginia, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, 46th Annual Exhibition, April 28-June 4, 1957.
Los Angeles, Asher/Faure Gallery, Arthur Dove: Paintings and Watercolors, November 21-December 19, 1981.
New York, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., Arthur Dove: Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Collages, November 21-December 19, 1984, no. 5. (as .04 Percent)
Literature
A.L. Morgan, Arthur Dove: Life and Work, With a Catalogue Raisonné, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1984, pp. 64, 292, 294, no. 42.23, illustrated.
M. Kirschner, Arthur Dove Watercolors and Pastels, New York, 1998, p. 62.
B.B. Stretch, "The Enigmatic Arthur Dove," ArtNews, vol. 84, no. 1, January 1985, pp. 90-91, 95, illustrated.
One of the most inventive American Modernists, Arthur Dove was the first of his generation to begin creating nonobjective paintings as early as 1910, following a two-year sojourn to Paris where he was exposed to the works of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), and the Fauves. Around this same time, Dove was introduced to Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1946) through his dear friend Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), which would forever alter his life and career. Dove, along with John Marin (1870-1953) and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), would stand amongst Steiglitz's most beloved, protected, and promoted artists. According to renowned modern art historian Barbara Haskell, "Stieglitz's role in Dove's life was far more than that of a dealer. He provided the support and encouragement for Dove that was so lacking elsewhere in America. Steiglitz and Dove maintained a correspondence throughout the years that served as Dove's artistic lifeline. When asked what Steiglitz meant to him as an artist, Dove replied, 'Everything...Because I value his opinion as one who has always known. I do not think I could have existed as a painter without that super encouragement and the battle he has fought day by day for twenty-five years. He is without a doubt the one who has done the most for art in America.' Steiglitz's contribution to American art of the first quarter of the century cannot be overestimated." (B. Haskel, Arthur Dove, Boston, 1974, p. 12.)
Overshadowed by their European counterpoints and pushed aside by the Abstract Expressionists, the early American Modernists were often overlooked for their advancement of abstraction and the foundation they paved for future generations, particularly Arthur Dove. More than any other Modernist of his generation, Dove sustained his commitment to abstraction for over 35 years through his endless exploration of line, plane, texture, and color. Inspired by nature and seeking to distill his paintings into the purest form of abstraction possible, the works he produced in the 1940's are his most advanced. These works, including .04%, serve as a glimpse of what would come from the next generation, particularly the works of the great international stars of the New York School Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), and Franz Kline (1910-1962).
Following his heart attack in 1939 and compounded by his failing kidneys, Dove was forced to abandon the naturalistic influence for his works, as he could no longer physically go out to search the land and sea for inspiration. Previously known for his frenetic energy, and its subsequent influence on his artistic output, the physical limitations caused by his failing health brought a sense of calm to both the artist and the canvas' he produced. The arrangements now emerge from within Dove himself, including new colors, angular forms, and large flat color planes. This last period of his career is widely regarded as Dove's most successful and, as William Agee wrote of Dove's late works, "[he] was a better artist at the end than he had been early on, and in his last five years he made his best paintings." ("Arthur Dove: A Place to Find Things," Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries, Washington, D.C., 2000, p. 435)
In .04%, as in all of Dove's best works from the 1940s, the jarring forms of the 1920s and 1930s have been replaced by harmonious fields of interlocking color and juxtaposed forms. He has removed the extraneous details and the controlled expanses of pigment unite to create a powerful and dynamic composition. There are still spontaneous elements within the composition, such as the black curlicue line in the upper right quadrant, that brings a sense of naturalism to the work that defines Dove's best works.
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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED EAST COAST COLLECTION
Arthur Dove (1880-1946)
.04%
oil on canvas
20 x 12 in. (50.8 x 30.5 cm.)
Painted in 1942.
Provenance
Helen Spangler (née Torr) Dove (1886-1967), New York, wife of the artist, by descent from the artist, 1946.
Estate of the above, 1967.
Terry Dintenfass Gallery, Inc., New York, consigned from the above, 1970.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, acquired from the above, 1983.
Private collection, New York, acquired from above, 1985.
By descent to the present owner from the above, 2010.
Exhibited
New York, An American Place, Arthur G. Dove: Exhibition of Recent Paintings (1941-1942), April 14-May 27, 1942, no. 5.
San Francisco Museum of Art, Dove, April, 1947. (as 04%)
Lynchburg, Virginia, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, 46th Annual Exhibition, April 28-June 4, 1957.
Los Angeles, Asher/Faure Gallery, Arthur Dove: Paintings and Watercolors, November 21-December 19, 1981.
New York, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., Arthur Dove: Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Collages, November 21-December 19, 1984, no. 5. (as .04 Percent)
Literature
A.L. Morgan, Arthur Dove: Life and Work, With a Catalogue Raisonné, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1984, pp. 64, 292, 294, no. 42.23, illustrated.
M. Kirschner, Arthur Dove Watercolors and Pastels, New York, 1998, p. 62.
B.B. Stretch, "The Enigmatic Arthur Dove," ArtNews, vol. 84, no. 1, January 1985, pp. 90-91, 95, illustrated.
One of the most inventive American Modernists, Arthur Dove was the first of his generation to begin creating nonobjective paintings as early as 1910, following a two-year sojourn to Paris where he was exposed to the works of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), and the Fauves. Around this same time, Dove was introduced to Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1946) through his dear friend Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), which would forever alter his life and career. Dove, along with John Marin (1870-1953) and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), would stand amongst Steiglitz's most beloved, protected, and promoted artists. According to renowned modern art historian Barbara Haskell, "Stieglitz's role in Dove's life was far more than that of a dealer. He provided the support and encouragement for Dove that was so lacking elsewhere in America. Steiglitz and Dove maintained a correspondence throughout the years that served as Dove's artistic lifeline. When asked what Steiglitz meant to him as an artist, Dove replied, 'Everything...Because I value his opinion as one who has always known. I do not think I could have existed as a painter without that super encouragement and the battle he has fought day by day for twenty-five years. He is without a doubt the one who has done the most for art in America.' Steiglitz's contribution to American art of the first quarter of the century cannot be overestimated." (B. Haskel, Arthur Dove, Boston, 1974, p. 12.)
Overshadowed by their European counterpoints and pushed aside by the Abstract Expressionists, the early American Modernists were often overlooked for their advancement of abstraction and the foundation they paved for future generations, particularly Arthur Dove. More than any other Modernist of his generation, Dove sustained his commitment to abstraction for over 35 years through his endless exploration of line, plane, texture, and color. Inspired by nature and seeking to distill his paintings into the purest form of abstraction possible, the works he produced in the 1940's are his most advanced. These works, including .04%, serve as a glimpse of what would come from the next generation, particularly the works of the great international stars of the New York School Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), and Franz Kline (1910-1962).
Following his heart attack in 1939 and compounded by his failing kidneys, Dove was forced to abandon the naturalistic influence for his works, as he could no longer physically go out to search the land and sea for inspiration. Previously known for his frenetic energy, and its subsequent influence on his artistic output, the physical limitations caused by his failing health brought a sense of calm to both the artist and the canvas' he produced. The arrangements now emerge from within Dove himself, including new colors, angular forms, and large flat color planes. This last period of his career is widely regarded as Dove's most successful and, as William Agee wrote of Dove's late works, "[he] was a better artist at the end than he had been early on, and in his last five years he made his best paintings." ("Arthur Dove: A Place to Find Things," Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries, Washington, D.C., 2000, p. 435)
In .04%, as in all of Dove's best works from the 1940s, the jarring forms of the 1920s and 1930s have been replaced by harmonious fields of interlocking color and juxtaposed forms. He has removed the extraneous details and the controlled expanses of pigment unite to create a powerful and dynamic composition. There are still spontaneous elements within the composition, such as the black curlicue line in the upper right quadrant, that brings a sense of naturalism to the work that defines Dove's best works.
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