Andante 1916

Curator: Arthur Bowen Davies created this etching titled "Andante" in 1916. Editor: It’s ghostly, almost like a charcoal memory of something forbidden and sensual. The women are emerging from or fading into, what? Dreams? Or shadows, perhaps. Curator: Indeed. The formal arrangement of the figures shows Davies’ movement towards abstraction, influenced by modernism but filtered through his own unique symbolist lens. Note the interplay of line and shadow that define their forms and spatial relations. Editor: They’re trapped somehow, though, aren’t they? Encased by the geometry… as if their world were built of broken glass. There's also something haunting about the expression on the figures—resignation, maybe. Or maybe a strange anticipation. Curator: We can consider this interplay as a tension between figuration and abstraction. Davies is less concerned with representing the objective reality of these female figures than he is with capturing a subjective emotional landscape, or, perhaps, an allegorical journey. Editor: Yes, exactly! And the almost brutal lines scoring across their bodies suggest more than just shading. It makes me think of the trauma inflicted by sharp-edged experience. It resonates, ironically, like a sad, silent musical movement... like the title evokes. Curator: Davies' interest in classical mythology, and perhaps the works of Puvis de Chavannes, manifests here through the lyrical yet unsettling atmosphere. One could analyze these recurring motifs as allegories of feminine resilience within modern existence. Editor: The title certainly pulls you in. “Andante”— a walking pace in music— it promises something measured and graceful. But there’s an undercurrent of restlessness here. Maybe this reflects Davies own exploration, both visual and emotional. He really does something that has to do with capturing something, a feeling almost beyond definition, a visual poem or piece of music if you will. Curator: "Andante" shows us Davies' complex formal experimentation alongside his unique exploration of thematic conventions. Editor: Leaving us pondering these figures, these shadows of women—dancing or despairing, lost or perhaps on the very cusp of finding their way— within those abstract planes. Food for thought... and a great reminder of the evocative power held within printmaking.