“William Dole was born in 1917 in Angola, Indiana to his postmaster father, W. Earl Dole and his mother, Edna Cowen Dole. Throughout his adolescence, Dole was enthralled by the reproductions of artworks embedded in the pages of women’s magazines such as the Ladies’ Home Journal and Vanity Fair.” (1)
“At a young age, William Dole immersed himself in art, but had scant access to art and art books in his small home town. His interest in art intensified after a visit to the Chicago Art Institute in 1933, where he was stunned by their collection of European and American masters.” (2)
“From highschool he was offered scholarships to the John Herron Art School and Olivet College.” (1)
“Dole enlisted in the Army during World War II, furthering his art education afterwards through the G.I.Bill at University of California, Berkeley.” (2)
“It was during the 1940s that Dole enrolled in art classes at Mills College in Oakland, California were he met and married his wife, Kate Holcomb Dole in 1941.” (1)
“With three children and an end to his war duties, Dole attempted a job as a commercial artist for Virgil A. Advertising. He quickly changed his mind when he entered graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley in the summer of 1946. It was here that he continued on for two years as a lecturer in the Arts Department. During these years Dole began professionally exhibiting his work. In 1949, he took on a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1955 he took sabbatical from the college in order to take his family to Florence, Italy for two years.” (1)
“[I]n Florence, Italy in the late 1950s, Dole purchased a portfolio of old papers; together with a cache of 19th century Japanese paper given to him by a colleague. Using these materials, 'collage' as an aesthetic technique became his focus. His collages brought Dole to international prominence. Asian painting aesthetics and the incorporation of foreign text on unique papers became hallmarks of his work.“ (3)
“[T]he artist was appointed Department Chairman in 1958 and went on to become a full time professor in 1962. Collage quickly became his medium and developed interest in the work of George Braque, Kurt Schwitters (1887- 1948) and Joseph Cornell (1903-1972). Throughout the 1950s, Dole’s exhibited in Berlin, Mexico City, Rome, and London. At this time, Dole was appointed Department Chairman in 1971 until 1974. The “William Dole Retrospective 1960-1975” exhibition traveled in 1976 from the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Dole was also awarded with an honorary degree as a Doctor of Fine Arts by Olivet College in 1978 and continued working till his death in Santa Barbara in the year 1983.” (1)
Reference
1.
Sullivan Goss Staff. WILLIAM DOLE (1917-1983) [internet]. [cited 2019 Apr 30]. Available from: https://www.sullivangoss.com/artists/william-dole-1917-1983
2.
Toby C Moss Staff. WILLIAM DOLE 1917-1983 [internet]. [cited 2019 Apr 30]. Available from: http://www.tobeycmossgallery.com/william_dole_bio.html
3.
Askart Staff. William Dole (1917-1983) [internet]. [cited 2019 Apr 30]. Available from: http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/William_Dole/8248/William_Dole.aspx