4

Arthur Dove

(1880-1946)

Ferry Boat Wreck Oyster Bay.

Watercolor on paper, 1931.
5 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (14 x 8.3 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    An American Place, New York, 1940 (label).
    The Downtown Gallery, after 1945 (labels).
    Murray M. Wax, Provincetown, Massachusetts.
    Private collection, New York.

    Arthur Dove was no stranger to hardship. He found a kindred spirit in his wife and fellow modernist painter Helen Torr. The two lived on their sailboat, "the Mona," from 1924 until 1933. The boat was moored in the cove of Halesite in Huntington, New York. In 1931 Dove witnessed a shipwreck and composed this abstracted watercolor study that is both a visual and emotional rendering of the subject. He would paint this composition in oil that same year. The oil on canvas variant of "Ferry Boat Wreck" is now in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, purchased the year it was completed.
  • Condition:
    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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December 18, 2025 12:00 PM EST
New York, NY, US

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