Growth of Spring
1921-1922
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
Accession Number
1973.137
Tags
Art Historical Context
Arthur B. Davies created “Growth of Spring” between 1921 and 1922 as a graphic arts print now held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Known for his lyrical and symbolic approach, Davies often merged the human figure with natural motifs, and this work reflects that interest through its focus on a nude study. The title evokes renewal and vitality, suggesting the figure embodies the awakening forces of the season. In the early 1920s, American artists were navigating the aftermath of World War I while exploring modernist ideas alongside more classical and romantic traditions. Davies, who hel...
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...