Untitled (1942)

Arthur Dove prints bring the rhythms of nature, from sun and clouds to waves, trees and wind, into your home in bold, simplified shapes. Dove is often called the first American abstract painter, a member of Alfred Stieglitz's circle whose pictures turn landscape and sound into colour and form. Our collection of fine art prints covers his early abstractions, his Long Island landscapes, his music paintings and his studies.

About Arthur Dove

Arthur Garfield Dove was born on 2 August 1880 in Canandaigua, New York, into a wealthy family. A neighbour, the naturalist and amateur painter Newton Weatherby, took him hunting, fishing and camping and encouraged his early painting, nurturing his love of nature. He studied at Hobart College and Cornell University, graduating in 1903, and became a successful illustrator for Harper's Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1907 he went to Paris with his first wife, Florence, joined a group of experimental American artists including Alfred Maurer, and discovered Fauvism. On his return in 1909 he met the photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz, who became his great supporter. With Stieglitz's backing Dove made what are known as the first purely abstract paintings by an American, and his 1912 show at Stieglitz's 291 gallery, including the pastels known as The Ten Commandments, was the first public exhibition of abstract art by an American.

From 1912 to 1946 he showed every year at Stieglitz's galleries. The collector Duncan Phillips paid him a stipend in exchange for first choice of his work. He lived for seven years on a houseboat with the painter Helen Torr, whom he later married, and spent his last years on Long Island. He died in Huntington, New York, on 23 November 1946.

Style and Subjects

Dove's abstractions are drawn from nature. Sun, moon, clouds, water, trees and animals become rounded, rhythmic shapes in earthy greens, browns and golds, with soft edges and repeating curves that suggest growth, movement or sound. Some pictures respond to music, such as his paintings after George Gershwin.

He liked to experiment, making collages from everyday materials in the 1920s and mixing his own paints, laying oil or tempera over a wax emulsion.

Famous Works

• Nature Symbolized No. 1 (Roofs) (1911–12). An early abstraction from the years just before his 1912 show.
• Sails (1912). Sailing boats reduced to bold, rhythmic shapes.
• Sentimental Music (1913), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. An early attempt to paint the feeling of music.
• George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue, Part I (1927). One of his paintings made in response to Gershwin's music.
• Sunrise, Northport Harbor (1929), Princeton University Art Museum. The sun rising over Long Island waters.
• Clouds and Water (1930), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Soft, swelling forms of sky and sea.
• Me and the Moon (1937). An abstract landscape called one of the high points of his career.
• Tanks (1938), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Painted with tempera over a wax emulsion.

Decorating with Dove Prints

Dove's nature abstractions suit modern and mid-century interiors. Their earthy greens, browns and golds, as in Sun Through Tree I, sit beautifully with wood, leather and natural textures in a living room or study.

His harbour and water pictures bring calm to a bedroom or reading nook, and his small studies and drawings make a lively gallery wall in a hallway or creative workspace.

FAQ

Was Arthur Dove the first American abstract painter?

He is often considered so. His 1912 exhibition at Alfred Stieglitz's 291 gallery was the first public show of abstract art by an American.

What inspired Arthur Dove's abstractions?

Nature above all: sun, moon, clouds, water, trees and animals. He also painted pictures inspired by music, including works after George Gershwin.

Who supported Arthur Dove?

Alfred Stieglitz showed his work every year from 1912 until 1946, and the collector Duncan Phillips, founder of the Phillips Collection, paid him a regular stipend.

Where can I see Arthur Dove's paintings?

The Phillips Collection in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Princeton University Art Museum hold his work.

Related Artists

• Alfred Henry Maurer: friend from his Paris years and fellow early modernist
• Marsden Hartley: fellow member of the Stieglitz circle
• Charles Demuth: American modernist of the same generation
• Wassily Kandinsky: European pioneer of abstraction working in the same years