The Hyde Collection Art Museum
Courtyard, former residence of Louis and Charlotte Hyde, Bigelow and Wadsworth, Architects, built 1912, © 1987 The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York
518-792-1761
Front page essay from the "Arthur B. Davies: Dweller on the Threshold" exhibition catalogue by Randall Suffolk, Director of the The Hyde Collection Art Museum. "Arthur B. Davies: Dweller on the Threshold" is being shown from June 17 to September 9, 2001.
Arthur B. Davies: Dweller on the Threshold
by Randall Suffolk
Furthermore one cannot pretend finality in the judgement of a secluded contemporary - for it would mean searching for matter still incomplete and also pre-judging our time and ourselves. We can deal otherwise with Blake, Giorgione or Botticelli who are seen complete with their periods, standing among certain conditions which are evident now, but which we think were not evident at their time. But a comparison with Davies and these others involves an assumption of equality not to be considered. Frankly Arthur B. Davies is a problem.
A. Burroughs, January 1923. [1]
Arthur Bowen Davies
(1862-1928) remains an interesting "problem." I would even hazard
the 
guess
that eight of ten readers have never actually heard of A. B. Davies. Yet
during his lifetime, he was hailed (at least on occasion) as the greatest
living American artist. In fact, many of the most informed contemporary
collectors of the avant-garde actively acquired his work, solicited his
opinions, and trusted his guidance unflinchingly: among them was Lizzie
Bliss, Duncan Phillips, John Quinn, Abby Rockefeller, and Joseph Hirshhorn.[2] (left: Dweller on the Threshold, c. 1915, Oil
on canvas, 17 x 22 3/4 inches, Courtesy of Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins
College, Winter Park, Florida, Bequest of Virginia Keep Clark)
Though not a member of the National Academy of Design,
Davies nonetheless participated in their annual exhibitions.[3] Though not a realist, he aligned himself
with the so-called "Ashcan" painters as they challenged the Academy's
stagnant hegemony and, as one of The Eight, exhibited with them in their
highly important 1908 Macbeth Galleries exhibition. Though not among the
cadre of nascent modernists attached to Stieglitz's 291, Davies nevertheless
frequented the gallery often and 
knew them personally. Moreover, without Davies's
adroit direction, his knowledge regarding contemporary artistic movements
on both sides of the Atlantic, and his financial connections at home, the
1913 Armory Show - a watershed event in the history of American modernism
- would not have occurred. (left: Hermes and the Infant Dionysus,
c. nd, Oil on canvas, 24 x 55 inches, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles
W. Harkness Endowment Fund)
After
Davies's death, the Museum of Modern Art's first president credited him
with that museum's conception. And in 1930, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art held a memorial exhibition to acknowledge that Davies was an artist
of consequence and, as a man, played a central role in defining an epoch.[4] (left: Maya, Mirror of Illusions, c.1910, Oil
on canvas, 26 1/8 x 40 1/8 inches, The Art Institute of Chicago, Friends
of American Art Collection)
And still, the "problem" remains. What happened
to Arthur B. Davies? Since his death the perception of Davies's importance
as both an artist and a defining figure in American art has 
steadily
diminished. Indeed, he easily has been dismissed as a tragic figure whose
artistic vision was overtaken by forces that he himself unleashed (i.e.,
the Armory Show). While this answer fits rather nicely within the story
of modernism, I do not believe it provides a complete account - or rationale
- of his descent into relative unconcern. (left: Sleep Lies Perfect
in Them, c. 1908, Oil on canvas, 18 1/8 x 40 1/16 inches, Worcester
Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, Gift of Cornelius N. Bliss)
This exhibition begins to examine the legitimacy of this
present categorization. The intent is not to single-handedly resurrect
his artistic reputation. Rather, this exhibition hopes to develop a new
platform
of engagement with both his imagery and his role in securing the advent
of modernism in America. Whereas previous exhibitions have attempted a
general survey of his oeuvre, this exhibition instead focuses on those select
paintings that established his artistic reputation. The goal is that by
bringing together these thirty works at one time and in one space, they
might provide a highly focused and intimate understanding of contemporary
critical reception while provoking new assessments of his artistic singularity
and contribution(s). (left: Homage to the Ocean, c. 1909,
Oil on panel, 28 x 23 inches, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Bequest of Lillie
P. Bliss)
Within
this context how does one account for A. B. Davies as both an artist and
agent of change? Artistically, I will argue that Davies had his finger
on the pulse of a different vein. And as an agent of change, he was the
third rail that sparked an irreversible shift in the currents of American
art. (left: The Hesitation of Orestes, c. 1915-1918, Oil on
canvas, 26 x 40 inches, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)
Endnotes:
1 Burroughs, A., "The Art of Arthur B. Davies." Print Connoisseur, January 1923, p. 196.
2 This is not an insignificant group. The Bliss and Rockefeller collections ultimately provided the nucleus of the new (1929) Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection; Duncan Phillips's passion became the Phillips Collection; and Joseph Hirshhorn's collection established the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution.
3. As late as 1905 Davies was submitting work to the Academy's selection committee. For example, Davies's painting Unicorns was displayed at the Academy's 83rd Annual. He was forty-three years old at that time.
4 Goodyear, A.C., The Museum of Modern Art: The First Ten Years. Museum of Modern Art: New York (1934), pp. 13-14.
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