Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Speaking at the inaugural John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art, held on October 22, 2016, at the National Gallery of Art, Rachael Z. DeLue, associate professor, department of art and archaeology, Princeton University, discusses some of the chief characteristics of Dove’s extractions, focusing on examples from the Gallery’s collection. The John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art is made possible by a generous grant from The Walton Family Foundation.
The modern American artist Arthur Dove (1880–1946) drew inspiration from the natural world when making his paintings and assemblages, but he also played around with found objects, popular music, sound technology, aviation, farm animals, meteorology, language, and script, including his own signature. The circle motifs that appear persistently across Dove’s art serve to signify and connect these disparate things, creating a vital and unique form of abstraction, one resolutely if paradoxically bound to objective reality and material existence. As Dove himself said, “there is no such thing as abstraction,” preferring the term “extraction” to describe the essential relationship between his work and the world.
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Speaking at the inaugural John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art, held on October 22, 2016, at the National Gallery of Art, Rachael Z. DeLue, associate professor, department of art and archaeology, Princeton University, discusses some of the chief characteristics of Dove’s extractions, focusing on examples from the Gallery’s collection. The John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art is made possible by a generous grant from The Walton Family Foundation.
The modern American artist Arthur Dove (1880–1946) drew inspiration from the natural world when making his paintings and assemblages, but he also played around with found objects, popular music, sound technology, aviation, farm animals, meteorology, language, and script, including his own signature. The circle motifs that appear persistently across Dove’s art serve to signify and connect these disparate things, creating a vital and unique form of abstraction, one resolutely if paradoxically bound to objective reality and material existence. As Dove himself said, “there is no such thing as abstraction,” preferring the term “extraction” to describe the essential relationship between his work and the world.
Still haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channels?
National Gallery of Art ►► bit.ly/33fFsuD
National Gallery of Art | Talks ►► bit.ly/3mfNeiO
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Subscribe: bit.ly/33fFsuD
Facebook: bit.ly/3eqoJv3
Twitter: bit.ly/2SvGOPF
Instagram: bit.ly/3enn5dz
