Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

A Reasonable Facsimile

A work made of encaustic on canvas.

Image actions

  • A work made of encaustic on canvas.

Date:

1942

Artist:

Arthur Dove (American, 1880–1946)

About this artwork

An exploration of the tensions between representation and abstraction, A Reasonable Facsimile appears purely nonobjective yet nevertheless suggests a landscape. The yellow half-circle at the top could represent the sun, one of Dove’s favorite subjects, and the areas of green and brown may be the earth below. When he exhibited this work in 1942 at An American Place, Dove published a poem in the catalogue, which includes the lines “There is much to be done— / Works of nature are abstract. / They do not lean on other things for meanings.” The title of this painting sums up Dove’s artistic project over the four decades of his career: to capture the abstraction of nature by creating “a reasonable facsimile” of its appearance.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Arthur Dove

Title

A Reasonable Facsimile

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1942

Medium

Encaustic on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed lower center: Dove

Dimensions

47.3 × 63.2 cm (18 5/8 × 24 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection

Reference Number

1949.541

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share