With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Arthur Garfield Dove
Painting/Drawing
1880 – 1946
- Biography/Description of Work
A resident of the Compo Beach area in Wesport, Arthur Dove was a prolific Modernist painter and among, if not the, first American abstract painter. For several years after college, starting in 1903, Dove worked as an illustrator. Between 1907 and 1909, he met influential figures such as Max Weber (who brought European modernist ideas to America), Alfred Maurer (an early American modernist) and Alfred Stieglitz (photographer, critic, dealer and theorist), who would become his life-long dealer. In 1909, Dove moved to Westport where he painted through 1917. Artwork created in 1910 and 1911 was innovative in its exploration of abstract forms with no representational imagery, and the pieces formed the ensemble for his first one-man show at Stieglitz’s gallery in 1912. Later work, such as “Me and the Moon” from 1937, is representative of Dove’s abstract landscapes. His 1938 piece, “Tanks,” displays an experimental use of paint over a wax emulsion. Dove used a wide range of media, sometimes in unconventional combinations to produce his abstractions and his abstract landscapes.
- Sources view
- https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dove/hd_dove.htm https://www.phillipscollection.org/research/american_art/bios/dove-bio.htm Uconn database, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Dove, http://www.phillipscollection.org/research/american_art/bios/dove-bio.htm, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dove/hd_dove.htm, http://www.butlerart.com/pc_book/pages/ARTHUR%20G.%20DOVE.htm, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/170306/Arthur-G-Dove, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-dove-arthur.htm, http://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/artist/arthur-g-dove/ Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1927-12-18, Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1967-3-19, Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1971-1-9, Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1980-1-25, Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1998-1-16, Arthur Dove Article - New York Times - 1998-3-8, Arthur Dove Obituary - New York Times - 1946-11-24
- Associated Resource(s)
- n/a