Hylas and the Nymphs

Artist Arthur Bowen Davies (American, 1862 - 1928)

Dateca. 1910

MediumOil on canvas on wood paneled stretcher

Dimensions18 x 40 in. (45.7 x 101.6 cm)
Frame Dimension: 23 1/2 × 46 × 2 3/4 in. (59.7 × 116.8 × 7 cm)

ClassificationsOil Painting

Credit LineHarriet Russell Stanley Fund

Terms

Object number1946.11

DescriptionLike Auguste Rodin, Robert Henri, Abraham Walkowitz, and other contemporary artists, Davies was an enthusiast of modern dance and its sensuous celebration of life. Yet his knowledge of the dance world was also quite intimate, a result of his liaison with the dancer Edna Potter, whom he met in 1902. Although he had a wife and children living in Congers, New York, Davies lived with Potter in a New York apartment under an assumed name for twenty-three years. His relationship with Potter may have been partly responsible for his gradual transition from sentimental evocations of childhood to an exploration of mythical landscapes, dreamlike imagery, and the sensuous movements of female nudes. (1)
Davies painted hundreds of canvases like "Hylas and the Nymphs" that depict rhythmically patterned groups of figures, all with voluptuous forms, long hair, and stylized poses taken from dance movements. There is, however, creates a curious sense of innocence. Davies may have used repeating figures to explore the mechanics of motion, as did the Italian futurists. The repetition of dancing figures, suggesting the performance of ancient rituals, also symbolized modern attempts at physical liberation through an exploration of the unconscious, dreams, and mythology. (2)
Like a number of works Davies painted about this time, "Hylas and the Nymphs" was probably further inspired by his trip to the Mediterranean with Potter in 1910-11. There he discovered classical art, temple ruins, the sculptures of Scopas, and the frescoes of Pompeii. The subject of the New Britain picture is taken from classical mythology. Hylas was the companion and servant of Hercules during an expedition of the Argonauts. Sent to find fresh water one evening, he came upon nymphs bathing in a spring. They were so captivated by his beauty that they dragged him into the water to be with them, and Hylas was never seen again.
Hylas's predicament is the stuff of male fantasy, and Davies plays this up by describing a flowing, gently undulating, aquamarine-tinted waterworld populated by colorful fish, beautiful plants, and four nymphs dancing gracefully, while another entices Hylas into the water. Davies's fantasy world does not obey traditional rules of space-Hylas himself is perched precariously between land and water, reality and fantasy, the sailing ship at the upper left the only reminder of his journey.

The gilded frame for "Hylas and the Nymphs," which features a painted and incised gold vine and carved flowers and berries against a blue background, was very likely created for the painting by the artist and framemaker Charles Prendergast. (3) Inspired by Art Nouveau, seventeenth-century Italian frames, and the Arts and Crafts Movement, Prendergast designed and produced frames for himself and for his brother, Maurice Prendergast, as well as for other artists and collectors. A number of Davies's pictures have Prendergast frames that may have been commissioned by collectors, by the dealer William Macbeth, or by Davies himself, who was a good friend of the Prendergasts.

MAS

Bibliography:
Catalogue of a Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Arthur B. Davies, exhib. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of American Art, 1930); Royal Cortissoz, "Arthur B. Davies" (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1931); Brooks Wright, "The Artist and the Unicorn: The Lives of Arthur B. Davies" (1862-1928) (New City, N.Y.: Historical Society of Rockland County, 1978); Joseph S. Czestochowski, "The Works of Arthur B. Davies" (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1979); Judith Zilczer, "Arthur B. Davies: The Artist as Patron, American Art Journal" 19, no. 3 (1987): 54-83.

Notes:

1 . Wright, "Artist and the Unicorn," pp. 43-44.

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