Artwork
Release at the Gates
Release at the Gates is an ink print by Arthur Bowen Davies. It dates from 1920 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1920, *Release at the Gates* is a black lithograph with lithotint on wove paper by American artist Arthur B. Davies. The work belongs to the print medium and presents a composition of loosely rendered, elongated figures set against indistinct architectural hints, suggesting a moment of transition or contemplation.
Subject & Meaning
The image gathers a cluster of semi‑abstract human forms whose limbs intertwine like tangled vines. Faces emerge sporadically from the mass, yet most of the composition remains a network of dark strokes, evoking a sense of entrapment or chaotic release, a theme recurrent in Davies’s symbolic visual language.
Technique & Style
Davies employed a lithographic process combined with lithotint, allowing him to achieve deep, velvety blacks and a sketch‑like spontaneity. The paper’s wove texture supports the fluid, gestural lines, while the absence of a defined background heightens the impression of movement captured in a hurried, almost improvisational drawing.
History & Provenance
Arthur B. Davies, a pivotal figure in early twentieth‑century American modernism, produced *Release at the Gates* during a period when he championed avant‑garde art across the United States. The print reflects his interest in dreamlike symbolism and was likely circulated among his network of collectors and fellow artists in the 1920s.
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.
