Pompeian Veil 1920

Arthur Bowen Davies made this veiled figure in delicate marks, probably as an etching on paper. Look at the way the line seems to emerge, like she's rising from a dream. I can imagine Davies, the etcher, watching her. Maybe he's thinking about how to capture the essence of form with so few lines, you know? Like, how do you make a body appear from almost nothing? You have to feel what you are drawing. The quick, loose lines have such rhythm, they make me think of other artists like Rodin, who used line to suggest movement and emotion. For me, paintings—and etchings—are a way of thinking through feeling, an ongoing conversation between the artist, the subject, and the viewer. Davies reminds us that art isn’t just about what we see, but how we see and what we feel.