Arthur Bowen Davies

American, 1862 - 1928

Follow this Artist

Arthur Bowen Davies was born in Utica, New York on September 26, 1862 and died October 24, 1928 in Northern Italy. His first studies were with Dwight Williams, professor of art at the Uthica Seminary, at age 15. Arthur then traveled to Chicago to study with Charles Courtney Currin (at the Art Institute). In 1878, he studied at the Art Students League in New York. Davies moved to New York permanently in 1886 to work as a magazine illustrator and gaining influence among wealthy women who liked his romantic, dream-like paintings, untouched by realism or modernism.Through the 1890's, Davies painted conventional landscape, moving in 1913 to a cubist style in which his dancing nudes are presented as geometric forms with supernatural facets. In 1918, he developed an interest in lithography, aquatint and etching, returning in his last decade of work to misty romantic canvases of his early period.His art covered many periods, as did his medium. Davies was a sculptor of wood, ivory and marble. He worked in lithography, etching, watercolor, oil, enamel and glass. He was a weaver of Gobelin tapestry and fine rugs. Arthur was considered a mystic thinker, a romantic painter and a great artist. Although he was a recluse, he served as president of the Society of Independent Artists. He also has been credited with organizing the 1913 Armory Show.Listed: Who was Who in American Art A.I.C. Annual Exhibition Record American Art Annual American Arts, Rilla Everlyn Jackman The Dictionary of American Painters & Sculptors Woman Artists in America, 18th Century to PresentMuseums: Art Institute of Chicago Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y. Brooklyn Museum Minneapolis Museum de Young Museum, San FranciscoBiography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Arthur Bowen Davies Paintings

Arthur Davies was a multi-talented artist who worked in a wide range of materials. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1878 and at the Art Students League in 1887. His media ranged from sculpted wood, ivory, marble and wax to lithos, etchings, oil and enamel as well as glass work and weaving. The subjects of his paintings were usually female nudes, dancing in a landscape. He was the president of the Society of Independent Artists and his work was represented by Macbeth Galleries in NYC. Davies painted only two women throughout his career, his mistress (1903-13) and a model (1914-1928). His paintings were often done on long, horizontal canvases with a procession of nudes, painted at the moment of inhalation because Davies believed that would capture a life like quality. He also exhibited his work with The Eight. Davies organized the Armory Show of 1913, giving the public their first exposure to the scope of modern trends, affecting the course of American art history. His work can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum in NYC.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell

Arthur Davies was a visionary modernist who played a leading role in the New York art world. Known for his ethereal images of female nudes in pastoral landscapes, Davies developed an enigmatic style with symbolic associations. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League and became one of the integral members of the Eight (otherwise known as the Ashcan School), exhibiting alongside Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, and Everett Shinn. He served as the President of the Society of Independent Artists, was instrumental in organizing the famous Armory Show of 1913, and won prizes from the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Carnegie Institute. Today, Davies's work is in major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal