Untitled 1942

Arthur Dove made this small gouache on paper, full of strange, earthy colors like ochre, moss green, and burnt umber. It looks like the painting came into being through layering, with forms emerging as if by chance, a little bit like automatic drawing. I can imagine Dove, out in nature, trying to capture the essence of a place rather than depicting it literally. There’s a real sympathy with the artist that I feel when I look at it. I can imagine what it might have been like to create this. The paint is applied fairly thinly, allowing the texture of the paper to show through. I'm drawn to the way he's built up this cluster of dark brown spots, like the dark undergrowth of a forest. Dove and his contemporaries like Georgia O’Keeffe were in an ongoing conversation, pushing the boundaries of abstraction. Ultimately, this small painting embodies ambiguity and uncertainty. It leaves room for multiple interpretations, and that's part of what makes it so engaging.