Balance

Art Historical Context

**Balance** by Arthur B. Davies, created around 1898, is a delicate graphic arts print that captures the artist's early fascination with harmony and the human form. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum through the generous gift of LaSalle Spier, this work exemplifies Davies' role as a bridge between 19th-century American art and emerging modernist influences. As a printmaker, Davies used techniques like etching or lithography to achieve subtle tonal variations, allowing for intimate reproductions that made his visionary imagery accessible beyond elite circles. Davies, a key figure in New York's art scene, drew from Symbolist traditions, blending ethereal nudes with dreamlike compositions that evoke balance—both physical and spiritual. The nude subject here likely symbolizes equilibrium in nature and the body, reflecting fin-de-siècle interests in mythology, beauty, and the ideal human form amid America's Gilded Age industrialization. His soft lines and poised figures distinguish this from the gritty realism of contemporaries like the Ashcan School, which he later championed. This print offers a glimpse into Davies' evolution toward organizing the groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show, forever changing American tastes. Visitors will appreciate its quiet elegance, inviting reflection on poise in an unsteady world. (198 words)

About the Artist

Arthur B. Davies · 1862–1928

Arthur Bowen Davies (1862–1928) occupies one of the most paradoxical positions in American art history: a painter whose own canvases were lyrical, dreamlike, and rooted in the classical tradition, yet whose organizational energy and curatorial vision helped force American audiences into direct confrontation with the European avant-garde. Born on 26 September 1862 in Utica, New York, to English and...