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Pine Tree, 1931

Arthur Dove (American, 1880-1946)

oil on canvas, Framed: 90.1 x 116.8 x 5.7 cm (35 1/2 x 46 x 2 1/4 in.); Unframed: 76.4 x 101.6 cm (30 1/16 x 40 in.). Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1992.128

Location:

226A American Modern

Description

Pine Tree exemplifies the spiritual kinship with nature that infused Arthur Dove's paintings. He was not interested in literal representation. Instead, he looked to color, form, and line for ways to represent the essence or inner character of an object. Here the tree's undulating trunk and limbs command much of the canvas, alluding to forms and forces in nature. Rhythm and growth are also suggested by the concentric bands of color that are repeated throughout the composition.

Inscription

Signed lower center: "dove"

Provenance

Array	(An American Place, New York, NY)
By 1946-1970	Edith Halpert [1900-1970], New York, NY, by inheritance to her niece, Nathaly Baum¹
1970-1992	Nathaly Baum [1914-1986], Washington, D.C., by inheritance to her daughter, Patricia Baum
Array	Patricia Baum, New York, NY, consigned to the Terry Dintenfass Gallery
Array	(Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1992-	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Footnotes ¹It is not known when Edith Halpert acquired this painting, but she certainly had it in her possession by 1946, when An American Place closed due to the death of owner Alfred Stieglitz [1864-1946].
Citations American Place (Gallery). Arthur G. Dove Exhibition. New York: An American Place, 1932. <http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p16028coll4,19337>. Tom Hinson, memo to Evan Turner, Jan. 15, 1992, in CMA curatorial file.

Exhibition History

New York, An American Place, Arthur G. Dove Exhibition (14 March-9 April 1932), see photocopies of handwritten catalogue, listed there as no. 1.
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Selected Acquisitions (9 February-11 April 1993).
Washington, DC, The Phillips Collection Arthur Dove: A Retrospective (20 September 1997-4 January 1998); traveled to New York, Whitney Museum of American Art (15 January-12 April 1998); to Andover, Mass, Addison Gallery of American Art (25 April-12 July 1998); to Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2 August-4 October 1998) illus. front cover/jacket, cat. no. 56, p. 91, discussed p. 4, 29.
Bordeaux, France, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Made in USA: L'art Américain, 1908-1947 (10 October -31 December 2001); traveled to Rennes, France, Musée des Beaux-Arts (18 January-31 March 2002); to Montpellier, France, Musée Fabre (12 April-23 June 2002); illus. p. 153.

Research

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Pine Tree, 1931

Footnotes

Citations