William Dole (artist)

William Dole (1917-1983) was an American collagist and teacher.

Dole was born in Angola, Indiana in 1917.^[1][2] Dole studied English literature at Olivet College and later finished a degree in art history, apprenticing with George Rickey.^[2] Dole moved to Oakland, California in 1941 to study at Mills College and joined the United States Army Air Corps the following year, where he served until 1945.^[3]

Dole worked briefly in the advertising industry before beginning graduate studies in art at University of California, Berkeley in 1946^[2] and lecturing there in 1947.^[1] In 1949, Dole became an assistant professor at University of California, Santa Barbara;^[2] he would become department chair in 1958 and full professor in 1962.^[1] He was named to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.^[4]

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.^[2] Dole was inspired by the collages and assemblages of Georges Braque, Kurt Schwitters and Joseph Cornell.^[2] Dole was also Mary Heebner's mentor.^[5]

Dole's collages were described as Cubist and Dadaist,^[6] and as geometrical in form.^[3] His work often featured words, letters, and other textual elements.^[7] His work was considered influential in the Santa Barbara collage scene,^[8] and was highly regarded by New York Times art critic John Russell.^[9][10][11]

Dole's work was shown in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art beginning in 1976 and was exhibited in other major cities.^[2] His work was also shown in Felix Landau's art gallery.^[12] A portion of his collection resides at the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[3]

Dole married Kathryn Dole in 1941.^[2] They lived in Santa Barbara and Hollister Ranch for some time.^[13][14] They had seven children and many grandchildren.^[1] Dole died in 1983 in Santa Barbara.^[6]