William Dole

William Dole was an American collagist and teacher.

Dole worked briefly in the advertising industry before beginning graduate studies in art at University of California, Berkeley in 1946 and lecturing there in 1947. In 1949, Dole became an assistant professor at University of California, Santa Barbara; he would become department chair in 1958 and full professor in 1962. He was named to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Dole's art was largely watercolor-based until he took a sabbatical in Florence, Italy in 1955, at which point he began to work in collage by incorporating Italian landscape elements. Dole was inspired by the collages and assemblages of Georges Braque, Kurt Schwitters and Joseph Cornell. Dole was also Mary Heebner's mentor.

Dole's collages were described as Cubist and Dadaist, and as geometrical in form. His work often featured words, letters, and other textual elements. His work was considered influential in the Santa Barbara collage scene, and was highly regarded by New York Times art critic John Russell.

Dole's work was shown in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art beginning in 1976 and was exhibited in other major cities. His work was also shown in Felix Landau's art gallery. A portion of his collection resides at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023