Untitled 1940 - 1946

Arthur Dove made this small untitled painting with oil or tempera on board. It has this earthy palette of muted reds, greens, and blues – a little landscape poking out from the unconscious, maybe? I can imagine Dove, out in nature, squinting, trying to boil down what he sees to these basic shapes and colors. It's not a straightforward picture, but more like a feeling of a place. The paint looks thin, almost like a stain, which gives it a light, airy quality, as if it could float away. Those angular red shapes could be mountains, or maybe they're just shapes that remind us of mountains. And that oval of blue – is it a doorway, a body of water, or just a blob of blue that feels right? Dove was always trying to capture the essence of things, and this little painting feels like a private experiment, something quick and intuitive. It reminds me that painting is about searching, not just about finding. We are all connected through mark making in our attempt to understand the world.