Kingdom of the Sun 1919

Arthur Bowen Davies made this dreamy, tonal etching, Kingdom of the Sun, at an unknown date. It feels like a fleeting image, captured just at the edge of consciousness. Look at how the figures are emerging from a landscape of blended light and shadow. It’s a dance of forms, created with a delicate touch, where each line and mark seems to suggest rather than define. Davies is playing with the ambiguity of form, reminiscent of Odilon Redon. He invites us to lose ourselves in the gradations of light and dark. I'm imagining Davies in his studio, experimenting with the plate, wiping away the ink, and letting the image slowly materialize. There is such intention and care in the soft gradations of tone. It's like Davies is inviting us into his own personal myth, reminding us of the power of art to create worlds from thin air. It's an exchange between artists across time, sparking new possibilities and fresh ways of seeing.