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Arthur Dove American, 1880-1946
March, April, 1929Pastel on canvas20 x 20 inches
50.8 x 50.8 cmThe explosive kaleidoscopic plume in March, April recalls Dove’s words from a review of his 1912 exhibition at Thurber Galleries: “Yes, I could paint a cyclone. Not in the usual...The explosive kaleidoscopic plume in March, April recalls Dove’s words from a review of his 1912 exhibition at Thurber Galleries: “Yes, I could paint a cyclone. Not in the usual sweeps of grey wind over earth, trees bending and furious sky above, I would paint the misty folds of the wind in comprehensive colors. I would show repetitions and convolutions of the range of the tempest. I would paint the wind and a landscape chastised by the cyclone.” [1] The circular form with radiating concentric rings is a deeply personal motif in his creative lexicon. To Dove this imagery symbolizes vitality and energy. Occupying the liminal zone between abstraction and representation, March, April is a vibrant example of Dove’s fascination with the physical forces of the earth. The artist brought March, April, which he had just finished, to Alfred Stieglitz on April 19, 1929. The following day, Stieglitz wrote to Dove: “March, April has already been carried off—$200.—You were willing to take $100.” [2]
[1] Dove, quoted in H. Effa Webster, “Artist Paints Rhythms of Color: Works Are Most Strange and Confusing; Need No Titles,” Chicago Examiner, March 15, 1912, 5.
[2] Alfred Stieglitz to Arthur Dove, April 20, 1929, in Ann Lee Morgan, ed., Dear Stieglitz, Dear Dove (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1988), 171.
Provenance
The artist; to
[The Intimate Gallery, New York]; to
Dorothy Norman, New York, 1929;
[The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1947];
J. Walter, 1962;
Edith Gregor Halpert, New York; by descent to
Private collection, 1970; by descent to
Private collection, New York, 1986;
[Alexandre Gallery, New York, 2009]; to
Private collection
Exhibitions
(Probably) The Intimate Gallery, New York, New Paintings by Arthur G. Dove, April 9–28, 1929
The Downtown Gallery, New York; Vanbark Studios, Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, Dove Retrospective Exhibition: Paintings, 1908–1946, January 7–May 18, 1947, no. 10
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 46th Annual Exhibition, April 28–June 4, 1957
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Phillips Memorial Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas; Art Galleries of the University of California, Los Angeles, California; La Jolla Art Center, California; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, Arthur G. Dove, October 1, 1958–September 30, 1959, no. 28
Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York, Arthur G. Dove: Pastels, Charcoals, Watercolors, February 6–March 13, 1993, pp. 9 and 40, no. 1, illus.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence, June 7–September 7, 2009, p. 75, pl. 36, illus.Literature
Letter from Alfred Stieglitz to Arthur Dove, April 20, 1929, in Ann Lee Morgan, ed., Dear Stieglitz, Dear Dove, Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1988, p. 171
Ann Lee Morgan, Arthur Dove: Life and Work, With a Catalogue Raisonné, Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1984, p. 170, no. 29.9, illus. p. 171
Debra Balken, Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence, Williamstown: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2009, pl. 36, illus. in color
Debra Bricker Balken, Arthur Dove: A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Things, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021, p. 146, no. 1929.10, illus. in color