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Freshness of the Wounded

Arthur B. Davies

American Art

The leading American modernist Arthur B. Davies had been exploring the theme of expressive modern dance in his paintings for about a decade when he completed this work. He addressed the effects of World War I, at least symbolically, with its title, which references the mounting casualties of the war. Inspired in part by the seminal modern dancer Isadora Duncan, Davies had often composed figure compositions suggestive of sequential movement and, therefore, of elapsed time and music. Here, the more rigid dramatic postures of the figures may have been modeled on the theatrical modern choreography of Ruth St. Denis.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATES ca. 1917
DIMENSIONS 18 x 40 3/16 in. (45.7 x 102 cm) frame: 23 3/4 x 45 15/16 x 3 3/8 in. (60.3 x 116.7 x 8.6 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 31.272
CREDIT LINE Bequest of Lillie P. Bliss
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Arthur B. Davies (American, 1862–1928). Freshness of the Wounded, ca. 1917. Oil on canvas, 18 x 40 3/16 in. (45.7 x 102 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Lillie P. Bliss, 31.272 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 31.272_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 31.272_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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