A Measure of Dreams c. 1908

Arthur Bowen Davies made this painting, A Measure of Dreams, with oil on canvas. Imagine Davies layering these subdued blues and earth tones one stroke at a time, coaxing this ethereal scene into existence. It feels as if he's trying to capture a fleeting memory, something just out of reach, like a dream fading as you wake. There’s this solitary figure, almost ghostly against the dark, looming presence of nature. I wonder if Davies felt like he was conjuring her from the very landscape itself. The paint application is so thin and transparent, like watercolor, that it almost feels like she could disappear. It makes me think about Ryder and those other turn of the century painters searching for something beyond the everyday. Each brushstroke feels like a question, a tender gesture towards the unknown. They are all in conversation, these painters, and each canvas is an attempt to find a new way to experience and depict the world.