By the Caliban 1919 - 1920

Arthur Bowen Davies made this print, entitled *By the Caliban*, using etching. It shows a group of nude figures dancing in an open landscape. Davies worked in the US at the beginning of the twentieth century, a time when the country's art institutions were beginning to look to Europe for inspiration. You can see that influence in the style, reminiscent of Symbolism. But it’s also typical of the way American artists were drawing on European art to assert a particular vision of modernism. By using literary references, such as ‘Caliban’ from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Davies added another layer of cultural meaning to his work. Art history isn’t just about aesthetics; it involves understanding how artists engage with the world around them, challenging or reinforcing existing social norms. In the case of Davies, we can look to archives, letters, and exhibition reviews. This helps us understand the artist's place in the art world of his time. Through that we can examine the meaning and significance of his work in its original context.