Arthur Dove, Gray Woman, 1940 Oil on canvas, 27 x 34 in. (68.6 x 86.4 cm.) New York Private Collection

Known for his innovative, stylized paintings, Arthur Garfield Dove (1880–1946) is considered to have been at the forefront of the early 20th century American avant-garde, having been one of the first American artists to explore non-representational imagery. Through abstraction and bold color, Dove painted nature in its most simplified and organic form. Dove explained:

“Why not make things look like nature? Because I do not consider that important and it is my nature to make them this way. I should like to take wind and water and sand as a motif and work with them, but it has to be simplified in most cases to color and force lines and substances, just as music is done with sound.”1

Gray Woman (Fig. 1) expounds upon the raw sense of nature through the power of color and line. Specifically, it takes a step further with the rare feature of portraiture, an uncommon element within Dove’s span of work.

While we cannot know for certain who exactly is represented in this portrait, we can explore different theories based on the reverse of the canvas. Painted on the reverse are inventory identifications, PG. 65.54 (Fig. 2) and a frame tag from M. Grieve Co., Inc. (Fig. 3), a framing company that was a famous for their wood carving. The company was active in New York City between 1924 and 1955 when the company was dissolved, and their complete inventory was sold at auction.2 Most importantly, however, the painting title, date, and gallery (Fig. 4) is printed on the reverse of the canvas indicating the origins of the work to be from Alfred Stieglitz’s (1864-1946) gallery, An American Place.

Stieglitz was a photographer and dealer who established and ran An American Place from 1929 to his death in 1946.3 Stieglitz was not only known for his relationship with Georgia O’Keeffe, but also for his circle of artists that included Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, and John Marin in addition to that of O’Keeffe and Dove.4 Stieglitz and Dove would first meet in 1909, growing in friendship as Dove’s career as an artist blossomed. It would not be until 1918 that O’Keeffe would first meet Dove, sparking a connection that the art world would debate for years to come.5 In 1920 Paul Rosenfeld first connected the two artists in his publication of “American Painting” in The Dial, giving the two artists a metaphoric coupling due to the similarities in style and essence between their work.6 Dove’s plant form paintings had a lasting effect on O’Keeffe’s work, as both artists created fundamental notions about imagery through abstraction and ephemeral elements. In an interview from the 1920s with the curator of modern art at the Art Institute of Chicago, O’Keeffe went so far as to say, “I think it was Arthur Dove who affected my start, who helped me find something of my own.”7

Taking a closer look at the shapes and colors depicted in Gray Woman, you notice the vibrant green and white paint that stands out to the right of the painting, as if the woman is holding a flower. One cannot help but compare this to the well-known O’Keeffe Calla Lily series she completed in the early 1920s (Fig. 5). This remarkable comparison is supported through the known relationship between Dove and O’Keeffe that

1 Magdalena Dabrowski, Stieglitz and His Artists, Matisse to O’Keeffe: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2011), 105. 2 "Fine Hand-Carved Frames and Mirrors: The Stock of M. Grieve Co., Inc., New York," Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 980 Madison Avenue, New York, 5 April 1955. 3 Dabrowski, Stieglitz and His Artists, 8. 4 Dabrowski, Stieglitz and His Artists, 8. 5 Debra Bricker Balken, Dove O’Keeffe (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), Xl. 6 Balken, Dove O’Keeffe, Xl. 7 Balken, Dove O’Keeffe, 3. began through their mutual friendship with Stieglitz. We also know from one of Dove’s letters in 1923 that he himself had an O’Keeffe painting hanging in his boat (his home at the time), so was well aware of O’Keeffe’s work.8

The exhibitions held at An American Place were shepherded by Stieglitz and his desire to showcase an authentic American experience of modernism, in hopes that other Americans would build on the brand.9 In 1940, when Gray Woman was completed, Dove was in ill health and stayed at his home on the North Shore of Long Island. Despite his isolation, Dove would continue to have annual solo exhibitions at An American Place until his death in 1946.10

Research: J. Readling

8 Archives of American Art. “Arthur and Helen Torr Dove papers, 1905-1975, 1920-1946.” (Box 1, Folder 30: Arthur Dove to Alfred Stieglitz, Drafts and Copies, 1923, Undated). 9 Dabrowski, Stieglitz and His Artists, 8. 10 Ann Lee Morgan, Arthur Dove: Life and Work, with a Catalogue Raisonné (London and Toronto: University of Delaware Press, 1984), 10. Fig. 1

Arthur Dove, Gray Woman, Oil on canvas, 27 x 34 in. (68.6 x 86.4 cm.) New York Private Collection Fig. 2

Verso of Gray Woman

Fig. 3

Verso of Gray Woman Fig. 4

Verso of Gray Woman Fig. 5

Georgia O’Keeffe, Calla Lily Turned Away Pastel on paper-faced gray cardboard, 1925 14 x 10 in. (35.6 x 25.4 cm.)