in which there is no central figure whose dream the imagery might depict and that the descent into darkness represents a descent into the artist's unconscious mind "to come to terms with his losses and heal himself." He argues that not only the imagery but the process represents a voyage into the unknown, one that for Elaine de Kooning represents a greater willingness to confront the unexpected than does the process of Abstract Expressionists. Ward suggests that the picture may well have been affected by Howard's death and that Dickinson's decision to declare it finished on November 1, despite having left large areas unresolved, such as the section at the upper left, may have been determined by the fact that it was the anniversary of Herbert Groesbeck's death. In a way, Dickinson saw the painting as a triumph over death, describing his rapid conclusion of work on it by writing that it was "snatched from the grave in a few weeks." Ward points out that this painting was the one most closely connected to his life, being begun on the anniversary of the date he became romantically involved with his wife-to-be and just prior to which he had his father baptize his son in the studio. The rose appears again, and Ward associates it with the archetype of "the comforting, the nourishing, the 'good' mother—young and beautiful—who was known to us, and even tasted, in the remotest past." But it may also be seen (in light of its associations with the Swedish art student who gave Dickinson a rose when his brother died) as having been placed in the picture in memory of all his dead loved ones. Notes References Abell, Mary Ellen and Helen Dickinson Baldwin. Edwin Dickinson: The Provincetown Years, 1912–1937. Exhibition catalogue, The Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 2007. Adler, Eliot. "Observations on Edwin Dickinson." Edited with notes by Matthew Baigell. Arts Magazine, 56, no 8 (April 1982): 124–126. Baldwin, Helen Dickinson. "Chronology," in Douglas Dreischpoon et al. Edwin Dickinson: Dreams and Realities. Exhibition catalogue, New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 2002. Carmean Jr., E.A., Eliza E. Rathbone, Thomas B. Hess. American Art at Mid-Century: The subjects of the Artist. Exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978. de Kooning, Elaine. "Edwin Dickinson Paints a Picture," ARTnews 48 no. 5 (September 1949): pp. 26–28, 50–51. ---------. "The