''Reflections'' is an oil on canvas painting by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist Arthur Dove from 1935, now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, US.

Description

''Reflections'' is a highly representative Dove piece, a flowing abstract landscape with trees under a prominent Sun. The whimsy, organic elements, and prominent Sun and Moon are all characteristic themes of his work. Although at first glance a straightforward landscape, Dove once referred to it as "Reflections (from headlights in car)", indicating a more complex possible reading.

Historical information

In 1910, Dove became the first American to paint an abstract work. His bold, emotional paintings earned him membership in the Stieglitz Group, a cadre of Americans devoted to

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. In 1933, he moved to Geneva, New York, to live on his family estate. Though unhappy with the region's provincial character, he remained for five years. His work underwent a profound shift in this period, as his artistic and geographic isolation led him to concentrate on scenes from his bucolic surroundings and the "purely formal appeal of natural objects' shapes and lines, which he emphasized to the point of abstraction with organic shapes and unexpected color schemes". ''Reflections'' was created squarely in the middle of his Geneva period.

Location history

Dove first sold ''Reflections'' to his long-time friend and patron Alfred Stieglitz in New York. It was then added to the collection of the

Downtown Gallery Edith Halpert or Edith Gregor Halpert (née Edith Gregoryevna Fivoosiovitch; 1900–1970) was a pioneering New York City dealer of American modern art and American folk art. She brought recognition and market success to many avant-garde American ...

in New York before being acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Denman of Bellevue, Washington. The work then shuttled through private and corporate collections before returning to New York and the Alexandre Gallery, from which it was purchased by the IMA. It is currently housed in the Paine American Modernism Gallery.

Acquisition

''Reflections'' was purchased in 2003 from the Alexandre Gallery courtesy of the

Caroline Marmon Fesler Caroline Marmon Fesler (1878 – December 28, 1960) was an American art and music patron, cultural philanthropist, and fine-art collector. Her contributions to the Indianapolis, Indiana, arts community included financial support and gifts of fine ar ...

Fund. Its accession number is 2003.161.

References

{{IMAart Paintings in the Indianapolis Museum of Art Abstract art 1935 paintings American paintings Sun in art