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Arthur B. Davies Paintings

American, 1862-1928

Born in Utica, NY in 1962, Arthur Davies sold his first sculpture — a small, detailed sailboat carved with a pocketknife — at the age of 12 for $25. After the 1913 Armory Show, Davies began to regularly cast small bronze sculptures and reliefs from wood carvings, and later from clay. These pieces were carved from life on occasion but more often from sketches. As Bennard B. Perlman notes in The Lives, Loves, and Art of Arthur B. Davies (1999), "experimentation in a three-dimensional medium was akin to his use of abstraction in painting, except that color was eliminated, allowing him to concentrate on the angular break up of shapes without the added complexity of considering hue, value, and intensity." Davies exhibited internationally, saw his work enter major public and private collections, and at the time of his death, the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized a large memorial exhibition. Today Davies’ artworks can be found in numerous public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; National Gallery of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

(Biography provided by Driscoll Babcock Galleries)
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Artist: Arthur B. Davies
'Gorges of the Tarn', New York Armory Show, Ashcan School Artist
By Arthur B. Davies
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Titled lower right, 'Gorges of the Tarn' and painted circa 1905. American Master's Gallery label, verso, with artist's name, 'A. B. Davies' for Arthur Bowen Davies (American, 1862-1928). Formerly with Christie's Auction House. A delicate watercolor and wash landscape showing a view of the Gorges of the river Tarn in Languedoc-Roussillon. Born in Utica, New York, Arthur Davies attended the Chicago Academy of Design from 1879 to 1882. He furthered his studies at the Chicago Art Institute, before moving to New York City in 1885 where he studied at the Art Students League and Gotham Art Students League. In 1893, he made the first of many trips to Europe, visiting Holland, Paris, and London. He was an arch-exponent of Modernism and the central organizing figure of 1913's watershed Armory Show. Davies developed a style that combined visionary Symbolism with elements of Tonalism and Cubism. Who Was Who in American Art describes him as an “…important but enigmatic Modernist whose work was poetic, mysterious, and visionary”. Davies was the recipient of many gold medals and prizes and juried awards and his work is held in the permanent collections of museums nationwide, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. Reference: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 1, p. 835; Artists in California 1786-1940, Third Edition, Edan Milton Hughes: Crocker Art Museum, Sheridan Books 2002, Vol. 1, p. 280; Thieme-Becker Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zu Gengenwart, Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 7/8, p. 470; E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 4, p. 293; Davenport’s Art Reference and Price Guide 2009/10 Edition, LTB Gordonsart, Inc. 2008, p. 672; et al. Additional biographical information follows, written by Catherine Southwick and Robert Torchia from the National Gallery of Art Online Editions: Arthur B. Davies’s mystical, mysterious paintings hearken back to 19th-century romanticism, even while Davies aligned himself with American artists advancing the most radical ideals of their day. Davies was born on September 26, 1862, in Utica, New York, the son of English and Welsh parents who had immigrated to the United States in 1856. He first took art lessons as a teenager from a local landscape painter, Dwight Williams...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Arthur B. Davies Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

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Arthur B. Davies paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Arthur B. Davies paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Arthur B. Davies in paint, paper, watercolor and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the early 1900s and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Arthur B. Davies paintings, so small editions measuring 19 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Wes Olmsted, Chester Dixon Snowden, and Harold Vincent Skene. Arthur B. Davies paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,750 and tops out at $2,750, while the average work can sell for $2,750.

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