The Great Mother

c. 1913

Arthur B. Davies

Associated Names
Arthur B. Davies

Painter, American, 1862 - 1928

This painting displays many nude female figures in various poses. At the top of the image is the largest woman, with light skin and dark hair. She appears to have one arm slightly raised. Around her are rows of smaller women with their arms outstretched in various dancing poses. At the bottom is a row of seated women who look upwards. The women's bodies and the shadows they make create geometric shapes that are colored in bright shades of green, blue, yellow, and rusty red. The shapes and bright colors give the impression of looking at the women through shards of class or a kaleidoscope.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Macbeth Galleries, New York). Lizzie P. Bliss [1864-1931], New York; bequest April 1931 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1914

  • Special Exhibition: Modern Departures in Painting; "Cubism," "Futurism," Etc., Cincinnati Museum, 19 March - 5 April 1914, no. 1.

1918

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Etchings & Sculpture by Arthur B. Davies, Macbeth Galleries, New York, 2-31 January 1918, no. 31.

1930

  • Special Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Arthur B. Davies, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1-25 May 1930, no. 63.

1962

  • Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928): A Centennial Exhibition, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; Cincinnati Art Museum; City Art Musuem of Saint Louis; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1962-1963, no. 54.

1975

  • 15 American Artists from the Corcoran: an Exhibition of American 20th C. Works from the Permanent Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, London Art Gallery, Ontario, 4 April - 6 May 1975, no. 2, repro.

1977

  • Themes in American Painting, Grand Rapids Art Museum, 1-30 November 1977, no. 83.

1981

  • Dream Visions: The Work of Arthur B. Davies, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica; Phillips Collection, Washington, 1981-1982.

2001

  • Arthur B. Davies: Dweller on the Threshold, Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York, 17 June -9 Septemeber 2001, no. 21.

2004

  • Figuratively Speaking: The Human Form in American Art, 1770-1950, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 20 November 2004 - 7 August 2005, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

2011

  • Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington, 2011: 236, 293, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46633255

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