Dove spent much of his artistic career either living on a boat (in warm weather) or living near water (in winter). As in works by his friend Georgia O'Keeffe, the subject of this painting is seen close-up and enlarged, forcing the viewer to concentrate on the abstract qualities of a familiar object.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Fishboat
Artist:Arthur Dove (American, Canandaigua, New York 1880–1946 Huntington, New York)
Date:1930
Medium:Oil on paperboard nailed to wood strainer
Dimensions:24 1/4 × 33 1/4 in. (61.6 × 84.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Carl D. Lobell, 1994
Object Number:1994.341.2
Inscription: Signed (lower left): Dove
[Terry Dintenfass, New York]; [Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York]; [Andrew Crispo, New York, until 1976; sold to Lobell]; Carl D. Lobell (1976–94; his gift to MMA)
New York. An American Place. "Arthur G. Dove: 27 New Paintings, Abstractions, Landscapes," March 9–April 4, 1931, no catalogue (checklist no. 5).
Detroit. Donald Morris Gallery. "Arthur G. Dove: Oils, Watercolors, Drawings, Collage," May 3–23, 1964, no. 6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Acquisitions: 1993–1995," July 28–September 24, 1995, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arthur Dove/Helen Torr: Land and Water," February 14–June 14, 1998, no catalogue.
Oxford, England. Ashmolean Museum. "America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper," March 23–July 22, 2018, no. 30.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Art: Art Show by La Farge Family. Dove Gives Annual Exhibition." New York Times (March 11, 1931), p. 29.
Ann Lee Morgan. Arthur Dove: Life and Work, with a Catalogue Raisonné. Newark, Del., [1984], p. 182, no. 30.10.
Lisa M. Messinger in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1994–1995." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 53 (Fall 1995), p. 62, ill. (color).
John Updike. "Pioneer." New York Review of Books 45 (March 5, 1998), p. 15.
James Trager. The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present. New York, 2003, p. 450.
Lauren Kroiz in Katherine M. Bourguignon Lauren Kroiz and Leo G. Mazow. America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper. Exh. cat., Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, England, 2018, pp. 72–73, no. 30, ill. (color) pp. 73, 132.
Debra Bricker Balken with contributions by Jessie Sentivan. Arthur Dove: A Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings and Things. New York, 2021, p. 159, no. 1930.9, ill. (color).
Arthur Dove (American, Canandaigua, New York 1880–1946 Huntington, New York)
ca. 1946
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.