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Description: Arthur Bowen Davies
American, 1862-1928
Forest Nymphs in Moonlight, 1925
Signed A.B. Davies and dated 1925 (lr)
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches

This evocative woodland scene by Arthur B. Davies dates from late in his career, when he was spending extended periods abroad. Recuperating from a heart attack suffered in 1923, he left for Europe on the eve of a resurgence of interest in his work. The collector Duncan Phillips, who had himself purchased several works by the painter, was about to publish the first comprehensive study of his work, with contributions by Royal Cortissoz; Frank Jewett Mather, Jr.; Dwight Williams; Edward W. Root; and Gustavus A. Eisen. Phillips wrote, "Few artists since Leonardo da Vinci. have had such culture as Davies controls, such a range of extraordinary knowledge, such an ardent curiosity about beauty and the causes for its effects, such a tireless mind serving such a boundless fancy, and so debonair a facility for varied invention." [Duncan Phillips et al, Arthur B. Davies: Essays on the Man and his Art, Cambridge, Mass.: Phillips Memorial Gallery, 1924.]

While abroad, Davies conceived of a series of tapestries devoted to his signature theme, that of the idyllic nude in landscape. While the project occupied him for the remainder of his life, it is not known whether there is any direct correlation between the present work and the series of roughly thirty-two tapestries that were completed by his death in 1928.

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Condition: Frame rubbing. Stretcher marks slightly visible. Surface dirt and slightly yellowed varnish, could use light clean. Light cracquelure, particularly lower edge and along the bottom left and right. Masking varnish, inhibits detection of restoration under UV light, though there does appear to be an area at the lower right.


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