Artwork
Sentimental Music
Sentimental Music is an unspecified painting by the Abstract Expressionist artist Arthur Dove. It dates from 1913 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition avoids literal instruments, instead rendering the spirit of sound through fluid, overlapping forms that convey both melody and resonance.
Sentimental Music abstractly evokes musical sound through curving, syncopated shapes and bands of color that suggest rhythm and harmony. Dove’s stated interest in translating music into paint, informed by contemporary jazz and Stravinsky, underpins the work’s visual cadence, which he likened to a two-four time signature. The composition avoids literal instruments, instead rendering the spirit of sound through fluid, overlapping forms that convey both melody and resonance.
Prose’s description of the painting as sensual underscores Dove’s synesthetic aim to fuse auditory experience with visual sensation, positioning the work as a bridge between music and modernist abstraction.
Technique & Style
Sentimental Music is executed in pastel on a paperboard support. Created circa 1913, the work measures 54.9 cm in height and 45.7 cm in width. As an abstract depiction of musical instruments and their generated sound, the piece reflects Arthur Dove's interest in synesthesia and the interpretation of sound into visual form.
The composition is described as sensual and is conceptually linked to a 2/4 musical time signature, embodying the artist's attempt to translate jazz improvisation and contemporary musical spirit into paint.
History & Provenance
Arthur Dove created the painting Sentimental Music in 1913. The work emerged from the artist's fascination with synesthesia and his desire, shared with Georgia O'Keeffe, to translate the spirit of sound into visual form. Dove drew specific inspiration from contemporary musical developments, including jazz improvisation and the compositions of Igor Stravinsky.
The painting was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1935 as part of the show Abstract Painting in America. It later entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was featured in exhibitions such as Three Centuries of American Painting in 1965 and Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe in 2011.
The painting is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it is inventoried as Sentimental Music, Arthur Dove, 1913 (accession no. 48.85.24).
It was exhibited early in its history at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in “Abstract Painting in America” (February 12–March 22, 1935, no. 35, listed as oil). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, later included it in “Three Centuries of American Painting” (April 9–October 17, 1965, unnumbered checklist) and in “Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O’Keeffe” (October 13, 2011–January 2, 2012, no. 64).
Context
Created circa 1913, Sentimental Music by Arthur Dove is recognized as a significant work within the modernist movement, reflecting the artist's deep engagement with synesthesia and contemporary musical forms. The painting embodies Dove's attempt to translate the spirit of sound, specifically jazz improvisation and the compositions of Igor Stravinsky, into visual language alongside his partner Georgia O'Keeffe. Art critic Francine Prose has characterized the piece as "sensual," noting Dove's own description of the work as being "comparable to music" and existing in "2/4 time."
The artwork depicts abstracted musical instruments and the sounds they generate, serving as a critical example of early American abstraction that interprets auditory experiences through paint. Held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the work has been featured in major historical surveys, including the 1935 Whitney Museum exhibition "Abstract Painting in America."
Overview
Arthur Dove’s 1913 work Sentimental Music belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, though it is not presently exhibited. The canvas presents an ambiguous grouping of forms rendered in muted browns and grays, punctuated by faint pink and white tones that suggest exposed skin. The composition lacks distinct facial features, offering instead a tangled mass of silhouettes that merge into one another.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Arthur Garfield Dove (August 2, 1880 – November 23, 1946) was an American artist.
