Car across the Street

Arthur Dove, Car across the Street, 1940, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.24
Copied Arthur Dove, Car across the Street, 1940, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, sheet: 5 1⁄2 x 8 7⁄8 in. (14.1 x 22.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.24
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Car across the Street
Artist
Date
1940
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 5 1⁄2 x 8 7⁄8 in. (14.1 x 22.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
pen and ink and watercolor on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture — vehicle — automobile
  • Landscape — road
Object Number
1986.6.24
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.24

Artwork Description

Dove suffered from various illnesses that kept him housebound for weeks at a time. Nevertheless he painted the world that was visible from his glass-enclosed front porch. For a painter inspired by nature, this confinement was frustrating, but Dove transformed the nearby activity into imaginative compositions. In this watercolor, he created a colorful, visually exciting scene from an otherwise banal subject, the neighbor’s car. Defined by only two black lines, the car seems to merge with the surrounding environment.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.