Dominion 1920

Arthur Bowen Davies created this soft lithograph of figures in a landscape. I can imagine him in the studio, charcoal pencil in hand, coaxing these figures from the stone, almost like they're emerging from a dream. There's a real tenderness in the lines, especially in the way the figures are rendered, soft and flowing. It's like they're caught between presence and absence. You can see the artist working with different levels of detail and shading to create depth and atmosphere. I wonder if Davies was thinking about the old masters, like Rembrandt or Goya, with their use of light and shadow to create drama and mood. The poses, too, are interesting—almost classical, but with a touch of modern sensibility. Davies is in conversation with artists across time. And that's what painting is all about, right? Being part of an ongoing conversation.