Arthur Dove American, 1880-1946

Canandaigua Outlet, Oaks Corner depicts a tributary of the Erie Canal that originates in Canandaigua Lake, about four miles from Arthur Dove’s hometown of Geneva in Upstate New York. This area held special significance for Dove, as it was his preferred fishing spot where he frequently met his good friend Newton Weatherly, a farmer, naturalist, and artist. In a 1938 letter to Stieglitz, Dove described Weatherly as “the finest soul I have known up to you.”[1] Dove returned to the subject on several occasions including the present work. Canandaigua Outlet, Oaks Corner exemplifies Dove’s careerlong fascination with the physical forces in his environment, which he strove to capture in visual form. The sweeping swirls of vibrant blue that travel across the canvas appear abstract but convey the intensity of motion beneath the surface of the water. The significance of Canandaigua Outlet, Oaks Corner within Dove’s body of work has been recognized by visionary collectors including Peggy and David Rockefeller.

[1] Dove to Stieglitz, March 25, 1938, in Ann Lee Morgan, ed., Dear Stieglitz, Dear Dove, Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1988, 319; and Sherrye Cohn, Arthur Dove: Nature as Symbol (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985, 1982), 42.