Sun on the Lake

Location
Seneca Lake, New York, USA
Date
1938
Materials
Oil, wax, and resin on canvas
Dimensions
56.2 x 91.44 cm
Credit
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gift of William H. and Saundra B. Lane and Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection, bequest of Robert J. Edwards and gift of the Misses Hannah Marcy and Grace Edwards, by exchange
Locate on map View in timeline About the artist

Arthur Dove’s Sun on the Lake speaks to a convergence of modern aesthetic and personal narrative. After living and working for a number of years in the artistic centers of New York and Paris, Dove returned to his childhood home of Geneva, New York. There he found inspiration in the landscape around him, focusing particularly on the relationship between air, water, and light. In Sun on the Lake, Dove distills organic forms and natural colors into a nearly abstract depiction of the radiating sun reflecting on the rippling surface of Seneca Lake.