Angled Beauty 1918

Arthur Bowen Davies made this print, Angled Beauty, using etching techniques, where the focus seems to be as much on the process as on the figures themselves. Davies is all about atmosphere here, which he gets through these subtle tonalities of grey, like he's trying to capture a dream. The bodies are soft, maybe more like suggestions of figures, amidst these wispy trees. It’s interesting to think about how etching allows for the kind of texture you see here, a sort of mottled surface. When I look closely, I see the way the lines aren't always crisp, but sort of dissolve into the paper, which makes everything feel a bit transient and fleeting. This makes me think of Redon, who worked around the same time and also explored these kinds of ephemeral, dreamlike spaces. Ultimately, Davies is saying something about the way we see and experience beauty, which is always shifting, and never quite fixed.