Author Description

Arthur Dove’s pursuit of an original language of expression made him a pioneer of American abstraction and a source for later painters. Reflections on Nature: Small Paintings by Arthur Dove, 1942–1943 features twenty-eight mixed media works on paper from the collection of the Wichita Art Museum, to whom the works were given in 1989 by the artist’s son. Representing a group of more than three hundred similar sketches executed late in life, these small paintings are meditations on the natural environs of Dove’s Long Island home. The freshness and authority in this selection of Dove’s late work is evidence of his lifelong interest in the distillation of natural forms as well as his enduring commitment to technical experimentation.