The Quest
c. 1917-1928
Medium
charcoal and chalk on brown laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 46.99 × 34.93 cm (18 1/2 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mrs. Arthur B. Davies, wife of the artist)
Accession Number
2015.19.323
Art Historical Context
**The Quest** by Arthur B. Davies, created around 1917–1928, captures the artist's signature mystical vision on a modest sheet of brown laid paper measuring 18½ × 13¾ inches. Davies, a pivotal figure in early 20th-century American art, was a co-organizer of the groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show, which introduced European modernism to the U.S. public. His works often blend Symbolism with dreamlike landscapes and ethereal figures, evoking quests for beauty and transcendence—themes hinted at in this drawing's evocative title. Rendered in charcoal and chalk, the piece showcases Davies' mastery of m...
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...