Up-Rising
Arthur B. Davies, Up-Rising, soft ground etching and aquatint on a cream laid paper, 1919, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 78, second state (of 3). In good condition, with margins. From a small edition, 6 x 9, the sheet 8 3/8 x 12 1/4 inches.
A fine atmospheric impression.
The first state of this print was before the aquatint; it was in soft ground etching only (the third state was printed in color by Frank Nankivell in 1924).
At this stage of his career Davies was experimenting with modernism in his printmaking; he had developed substantial expertise in sophisticated printmaking techniques (here effectively using soft ground and aquatint), and was fusing the cubism which interested him in the years after the 1912 Armory Show (he was a primary organizer of the show), with the symbolism that had led him to be regarded as America’s most distinguished artist prior to that. His printmaking continues to be one of the most interesting areas of his work.