Untitled 1940 - 1946

Curator: This is an Untitled watercolor by Arthur Dove, created sometime between 1940 and 1946. What are your first impressions? Editor: Somber. And a little unsettling. The dark hues and simplified forms—particularly that large, looming circle—create a sense of unease. It almost feels like an eclipse or a dark sun. Curator: It’s interesting you pick up on the somber mood. Considering the historical context, painted during or just after the Second World War, it is possible that this palette and geometric composition reflect the anxiety and uncertainty of the time. Editor: Perhaps. But focusing on the form itself, note how the layering of colors, the dark circle, the rectangles and color choices are all playing off of one another. The darker colors dominating the upper portion give way to reddish-brown shapes near the base, pushing that central annulus forward. Curator: I am drawn to that interplay of the handcrafted and the abstract. Dove’s modernist work challenges a strict division between high art and craft. Here, watercolor allows for an immediacy that is reflective of this move toward abstraction, which also highlights the materiality of art production. It’s also noteworthy that during this time Dove was struggling financially, so his use of less conventional material signals not only aesthetic choice but material reality. Editor: Right. The materials inform our understanding. Take that circle. Its imperfect shape and varied tones reveal the hand of the artist, countering any sense of machine-made perfection. It calls our attention back to the labor. This is all carefully orchestrated by Dove, through color, composition, and yes, the physical properties of watercolor. Curator: It is also an important element that Dove titled the piece, *Untitled*, which reinforces the symbolic nature of the forms depicted. Editor: Looking again, it seems clear that it is the relationships of the shapes and the colors that give it the emotional depth. Curator: Agreed. Thinking about it more, acknowledging Dove's process as a material constraint allows the work to really open up, and give us more to think about. Editor: Indeed. The balance Dove struck, despite possible limitations, leaves a lasting impact on the eye.