Arthur Dove: A Retrospective

For years it seemed that the American abstractionist Arthur Dove was nearly forgotten. This book, compiled to accompany the first major exhibition of his work since the early 1970s, is a worthy tribute to his legacy. Dove's small, vibrant, enigmatic abstractions, like those of his good friend Georgia O'Keeffe, were tied to his observations of the world around him. There were always a few of his works on view at the Washington, D.C., Phillips Collection, which sponsored the exhibition in conjunction with the Addison Gallery of American Art. However, Dove's work rarely turned up in print--except for the witty yet uncharacteristic collage The Critic--a monocle on roller skates. This collection, long overdue, is chock-a-block with color plates of paintings, collages, drawings, family photographs, and other biographical material, all woven together by the exhibition's curators in three graceful essays.