Arthur Dove ( 1880-1946 )
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Freight Car - 1937 Oil on canvas 20 x 28 inches Signed (at bottom center): dove Click image for detailed view |
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Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Downtown Gallery, New York, 1934
Inland Steel Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1957
Harvey and Francoise Rambach, New Jersey, 1985
Gerald Peters Gallery
Private collection
Exhibited:
Arthur Dove: Exhibition of Recent Paintings, An American Place, New York, 1938, no. 16
American Modernism: From Nature to Abstraction, Linda Hyman Fine Arts, New York, October 16-December 15, 1995
Masterpieces of American Modernism: The Rambach Collection, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, January 11-April 26, 1998, illus.
Recorded:
Morgan, A.L. Toward the Definition of Early Modernism in America: A study of Arthur Dove, Ann Arbor, 1973, no.34.5, pp.255, 283, illus.
Morgan, A.L. Arthur Dove: Life and Work with a Catalogue Raisonné, Newark, Delaware, 1984, no. 37.5, p. 240.
From his immediate natural surroundings, Dove abstracted natural forms into simple shapes, color, and lines that became central motifs in his paintings. The 1930s have been regarded as a turning point in Dove's career, where these abstracted formed reach full maturity. Freight Car reflects Dove's unwavering fascination with the natural world coupled with his passionate investigation into abstraction, elements for which he is now regarded one of the most important American Modernist painters.
Freight Car was painted during Dove's residence at his parent's estate in Geneva, New York; its subject matter draws from the presence of trains in the Finger Lakes region. The work is typical of his Geneva period, with a central dominant shape set in a shallow landscape. Dove's choice of colors has a strong expressive function and works closely to create a unified image. The dark greens, yellows and silver/browns of the landscape contrast and compliment the enamel red of the car. The central image of the car asserts itself with force: the telephone poles beside it contort themselves away, and the trees in the background feel electrified by its presence. Through the use of these colors and composition Freight Car creates an image of geometric forms infused with energy, both natural and man-made.
