Exhibitions Available for Loan
MODERN MOVEMENT: ARTHUR BOWEN DAVIES FIGURATIVE WORKS ON PAPER FROM THE RANDOLPH COLLEGE AND MAC COSGROVE-DAVIES COLLECTIONS and ARTHUR B. DAVIES PAINTINGS FROM THE RANDOLPH COLLEGE COLLECTION
Sometime in the mid-1890s, Davies began to sketch and paint images of dancers and would dwell on that subject until the end of his career. The exhibition title, Modern Movement, suggests not only the illusion of movement within Davies’ works, but also the wealth of modernist styles and ideas which debuted in the Armory Show. Undoubtedly that exhibition initiated a modern movement in the visual arts in the United States, and the individual largely responsible for selecting works and organizing gallery themes was Davies himself.
The exhibition title also serves as a reference to the modern dance movement that influenced Davies and his contemporaries. Isadora Duncan in particular was simpatico with Davies. The two shared a Hellenic adoration and, as Davies has been referred to as the father of modern art in America, Duncan has been called the mother of modern dance in America. While the Armory Show rocked the foundations of traditional visual art, Duncan’s trailblazing approach to what was then called aesthetic barefoot dance, transformed the world of theatrical dance.
Most of the College’s works by Davies were part of the largest and most important group of paintings received as a single gift. It came from Mrs. Cornelius N. Bliss, Jr. (originally Zaidee C. Cobb and later Mrs. A. Conger Goodyear) in 1949 from the estate of her sister-in-law Lizzie (renamed “Lillie”) Plummer Bliss, following the advice of Robert G. McIntyre, trustee of the estate and longtime president of the Macbeth Gallery. The forty-one works by Davies included five oil paintings, six watercolors, twelve drawings, and eighteen prints. Works by other artists were among the gift as well, including five paintings by Walt Kuhn. More Davies pieces were accessioned into the Collection later as gifts from Mrs. Goodyear and from members of the Macbeth family.
Exhibition Information and Guidelines >>
Pictured above: Dancers from the Isadora Duncan Dance Company performing at the opening reception of Modern Movement at the Maier Museum of Art in 2013.
For more information about loan exhibitions, please contact:
Martha Kjeseth Johnson
Director of the Maier Museum of Art
(434) 947-8136, ext. 3
mjohnson@randolphcollege.edu