There are many reasons that educators want to visit the Circles
of Influence exhibit featuring Arthur Dove and Georgia O’Keeffe
at The Clark Art Institute through September 7th, but one of the
biggest for me was seeing these two artists side by side in the
same galleries and learning about how they influenced one
another throughout their careers. Beginning in 1914 with
O’Keeffe seeing Dove’s pastels for the first time and then being
introduced to the artist four years later, the two shared a
close examination of the landscape inspired by their own
emotional responses to it. Neither had a desire to paint or draw
the landscape “realistically”, nor did they have notions about
obliterating any references to nature. Instead, they used color,
shape, and even sounds to jump-start their work. And while they
admired one another and stayed updated on each other’s
successes, they allowed the art to do the talking…. and the
influencing. Georgia O’Keeffe was quoted as saying that Arthur
Dove was her primary introduction t