Arthur Garfield Dove

American, 1880-1946

Fields of Grain as Seen from Train

Arthur Garfield Dove (American, 1880–1946). Fields of Grain as Seen from Train, 1931. Oil on canvas, 24 x 34 1/8 inches (61 x 86.7 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958 (K1958:1).

Public Domain

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Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Fields of Grain as Seen from Train, 1931

Artwork Details

Currently on View

Collection Highlight

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 24 x 34 1/8 inches (60.96 x 86.68 cm); framed: 33 1/8 x 43 1/8 x 4 1/4 inches (84.14 x 109.54 x 10.8 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958

Accession ID

K1958:1

Arthur Dove developed a pictorial language in which simplified, semi-abstract forms and earthen colors express the essence of the pastoral American landscape. Early in his career, Dove supported himself by farming, and Fields of Grain as Seen from Train celebrates the redeeming power of fertile lands. He felt that the most important characteristic of nature was its integrity, so his paintings have generalized elements and few colors. Here, waves of grain blowing in the wind and the furrows in a newly plowed field are extracted from nature and become symbols. These forms are visually unified, as if you were viewing the scene from the window of a passing train. The light is that of a warm late summer afternoon. In its rounded heaviness, the central funneling shape alludes to organic ripeness, as do the other swelling forms in a restricted but warm palette of earthy browns, yellow and verdant greens, and burnt orange. While the colors of nature predominate, they are not used realistically. Like his imagery, they are abstracted.