Artwork
Figure in Glass
Figure in Glass is an ink print by Arthur Bowen Davies. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1916, *Figure in Glass* is a drypoint print by American artist Arthur B. Davies. The work presents a solitary nude rendered in stark, angular forms that suggest shards of glass, set against a dark, textured background. Its compact size and monochrome palette emphasize the immediacy of the hand‑drawn marks.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a standing nude with one arm lifted and the other placed on the hip, the figure’s body fragmented into sharp, geometric planes. This abstraction of the human form hints at a tension between corporeal presence and structural disintegration, inviting viewers to contemplate the interplay of solidity and fragility.
Technique & Style
Davies employed drypoint, incising lines directly into a copper plate with a sharp needle. The resulting burr produces a characteristic roughness and deep, velvety blacks. The print’s angular contours and aggressive line work reflect an experimental approach that bridges traditional drawing with early modernist abstraction.
History & Provenance
Arthur B. Davies, a leading figure in the American avant‑garde of the early twentieth century, produced *Figure in Glass* during a period of intense engagement with European modernism. The print entered private collections shortly after its creation and has since been exhibited in surveys of American modern art, illustrating Davies’s role in promoting new visual languages.
Context
The piece emerges from a broader artistic climate in which American artists were assimilating Cubist and Futurist ideas. Davies’s interest in breaking down form into geometric shards aligns with contemporaneous experiments in deconstructing the figure, situating the work within the early modernist dialogue between representation and abstraction.
Artist & collection
Artist
Arthur Bowen Davies (September 26, 1862 – October 24, 1928) was an avant-garde American artist and influential advocate of modern art in the United States c. 1910–1928.
