Artwork
A Measure of Dreams
A Measure of Dreams is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Arthur B. Davies. It dates from 1908 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Stylistically, the work aligns with Davies’s Symbolist-inflected approach, where form and color serve allegorical ends rather than naturalistic description.
Executed in 1908, A Measure of Dreams is an oil painting on canvas measuring 45.7 × 76.2 cm. Davies employed a fluid handling of oil paint to render an idealized landscape populated by attenuated, dreamlike figures. The composition blends classical nudes with a softly modeled, atmospheric setting, emphasizing rhythmic line and muted tonalities. The canvas support is prepared with a smooth ground, allowing delicate glazes to modulate light across the scene.
Stylistically, the work aligns with Davies’s Symbolist-inflected approach, where form and color serve allegorical ends rather than naturalistic description.
History & Provenance
A Measure of Dreams was painted by Arthur Bowen Davies in 1908 and is recorded as an oil-on-canvas landscape. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains located. The work is documented with an inception date of 1908 and dimensions of 45.7 cm in height and 76.2 cm in width.
A Measure of Dreams (1908) by Arthur Bowen Davies is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is inventoried as accession number 1975.1.156. The painting entered the museum’s collection in 1975. It has not been recorded in major public exhibitions according to available institutional records.
Overview
Arthur Bowen Davies created A Measure of Dreams in 1908, an oil painting that merges the genres of landscape and the nude. This work exemplifies the artist's imaginative and fluid approach, characteristic of American Impressionism. It presents a solitary figure within a dreamlike setting, inviting contemplation on themes of nature and the human form. The painting is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The painting features a nude woman positioned before a dark tree, her form illuminated against a cloudy sky. With one arm raised and head tilted back, she appears to be experiencing the natural elements, evoking a sense of reverie or introspection. Davies's fusion of a classical nude with an ethereal landscape creates a symbolic space, suggesting a connection between the human psyche and the natural world, rendered with a distinctly dreamlike quality.
Context
Arthur Bowen Davies was recognized for his avant-garde artistic sensibilities during the early 20th century. Beyond his own creative output, he played a significant role in advocating for and introducing modern art movements to the American public. A Measure of Dreams reflects his progressive outlook, blending traditional subjects with a contemporary, imaginative style that challenged conventional artistic boundaries of the period.
Artist & collection
Artist
Arthur Bowen Davies (September 26, 1862 – October 24, 1928) was an avant-garde American artist and influential advocate of modern art in the United States c. 1910–1928.
