Arthur Garfield Dove: Abstract Love

Abstract Impact 

I got such a thrill discovering American Abstract artist Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946, born on this day); I'd never heard of him! I absolutely love his assemblages, made with whatever he had to hand while living on his houseboat, Mona, between 1923-27; a mad mixture of materials (reminding me of my time in the studio of a foundation course with things I'd found in the street & skips, whilst surrounded by 'proper artists' with paints & easels. I learned the term 'assemblage' there, and that it's possible to be 'painterly' with anything!) He made a series of collages in the 20s, incorporating real objects; like visual poems, crafting colour & rhythm in a pleasing composition. Below (R): Goin' Fishin', 1925, includes: bamboo, denim; buttons; wood panel (l) The Intellectual, 1925

His began working life as a magazine illustrator (1903); working for Harper's Magazine, and Saturday Evening Post until 1930, when he was able to make painting his main focus.

(L) The Critic, 1925 I love artwork that uses text, or newsprint.

He moved to Paris in 1907; exhibiting at the Salon d'Antonne in 1908 & the following year. He met and hung out with other American Avant Garde artists, befriended Max Weber. It was here he saw paintings by Matisse, which influenced him.

(R) Nature Symbolized, or Reefs, 1924. Below: Red Sun 1935

Below: Clouds and Water, 1930

The urge to create is so strong, that even after his stroke and heart attack, which left him partially paralyzed, he continued to paint, with his wife guiding his hand. I Love the work I found, and will continue to seek out.

Below (L) Untitled, 1940; (R) Serial, 1942