Silver Sun

Arthur DoveWW-1929-143030

1929·Oil, metallic paint, and an unidentified material (possibly wax) on canvas·55.3 × 74.9 cm (21 3/4 × 29 1/2 in.)

<p>Shimmering concentric circles of silver and blue radiate downward from the deep black center of the sun, dwarfing its tiny reflection in the water below. Although Arthur Dove experimented early on with abstraction, in the 1920s he developed a unique representational style that simplified elements and toyed with scale to capture the fundamental forms and forces of nature. Dove was equally fascinated with the materials of art and here mixed metallic paint with something like wax to thicken its consistency. The textured brushwork emphasizes the sun’s brilliance, making its rays almost tangible.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1929
Medium: Oil, metallic paint, and an unidentified material (possibly wax) on canvas
Dimensions: 55.3 × 74.9 cm (21 3/4 × 29 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Arthur Dove

Artist

Arthur Dove

Painting

Arthur Garfield Dove was an American artist. An early American modernist, he is often considered the first American abstract painter. Dove used a wide range of media, sometimes in unconventional combinations, to produce his abstractions and his abstract landscapes. Me and the Moon from 1937 is a good example of an Arthur Dove abstract landscape and has been referred to as one of the culminating works of his career. Dove made a series of experimental collages in the 1920s. He also experimented with techniques, combining paints like hand mixed oil or tempera over a wax emulsion as exemplified in Dove's 1938 painting Tanks, in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

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