Arthur Bowen Davies

This painting presents a group of young men moving gracefully in a forest setting that also resembles a theatrical set. Davies’s treatment of the figures’ movement reflects his avid admiration of both ancient Greek art and modern dance. The title Clothed in Dominion suggests that the unclothed men are metaphorically dressed in the power (or dominion) of their own muscular bodies or in their power over the natural world, of which they have become a part.

Arthur B. Davies was a driving force behind the groundbreaking New York modern art exhibition known as the 1913 Armory Show. He was also an avid admirer of modern dance and Greek art, both of which informed his notions about natural movement presented in nature. While in Paris in 1912, Davies followed the performances of the Ballets Russes, whose archaic, sensuous staging of Claude Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun shocked even sophisticated audiences. He recalls that ballet in this frieze of young men moving languorously in a scenographic forest setting. A kneeling figure at left suggests the notorious pose of the exultant faun, made famous by dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.