Tree Forms and Water

Arthur Dove

ca. 1928 · Pastel on plywood · Modern and Contemporary Art

This landscape, lacking perspective and a horizon line, is so tightly cropped and simplified that it is nearly unrecognizable. Working on wood rather than paper or canvas, Dove rubbed his pastels deeply into the surface. The natural grain of the panel is thus still apparent and provides the outlines of the abstracted tree trunk and ripples of water—a serendipitous congruence of medium and subject.

Artist

Arthur Dove

Date

ca. 1928

Medium

Pastel on plywood

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949