Arthur B. Davies was born in Utica , New York, the fourth child of a Welsh Methodist
Minister.  He studied at the Chicago Academy of Design and the Chicago Art Institute.  Davies
was influenced by the works of the Romantic painters, such as Albert Pinkham Ryder, and he was
an avid reader of legends, fairy tales, and Greek poetry.  These became the subject matter of
Davies’ paintings: idyllic themes, legends, and poetic arrangements of figures and landscape.
Influences of English Pre – Raphealite fantasies and German Romanticism can be seen in Davies
work prior to the Armory Show.  
     Davies was a prime organizer of the 1913 Armory Show, the first large exhibition of
European contemporary art in America.  After being exposed to avant-garde art works, Davies
experimented with a Cubist style.  Unsatisfied,  he eventually returned to his earlier style of poetic
lyricism.
     Davis was not only a prominent artist, but also an important supporter if his
contemporaries’ efforts. He organized significant exhibitions of controversial art, supported
fellow artists, and advised important art collectors like Lillie Bliss.

(Utica, New York, 1862 – 1928, Europe)