William Dole

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William Dole
1917-1983.
Gliff
1974
Collage of cut and torn printed and colored papers with watercolor.
3 5/8 x 5 3/16 inches (9.2 x 13.2 cm)
Gift of Sharon Dunlap Smith.
2019.95
Notes: 

California-based artist William Dole began working in collage in the mid-1950s. He regarded works such as this one, which contain several fragments of printed paper alongside colored printed and handmade papers, as "concrete poetry," a form of poetry in which the physical presentation of language takes primacy. Although diminutive in size, this work is remarkably rich. It includes evocative fragments of language: the word "multitude" at top right, juxtaposed with the letter "I" and a strip of colored pink paper; and "thou hast most justly," pasted just below the artist's signature.

Inscription: 

Signed and dated in ink lower right, "W. Dole 1974".

Provenance: 
Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara; Betty Augerson, 1974; bequest to Sharon Dunlap Smith; gift to the Morgan.
Artist page: 
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