Charles Davis

British, 1849 - 1914

Explore Selected Works

A nearly nude woman is carved from cream-white marble in this freestanding sculpture. In this photograph, her body faces us, and she looks to our right in profile. She has a sloping forehead and straight nose, full, closed lips, and a rounded chin. Her curly hair is pulled back but ringlets fall down the back of her neck, and tendrils curl alongside her ears. She holds her left arm, to our right, across her torso so that hand brushes her right breast. She holds drapery to her groin with the other hand, and the cloth puddles behind her feet. She steps slightly forward onto her right leg but her knees are together so the toes of her left foot brush the round, disk-like base on which she stands. The background fades from nickel gray across the top to fog gray along the bottom.
Antonio Canova, Venus, model 1817/1820, carved c. 1822/1823, marble, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.242

Venus

Antonio Canova · model 1817/1820, carved c. 1822/1823 · marble ·  Accession ID  2014.136.242

Thomas Hope, Pedestal for "Venus" after Canova, c. 1822/1823, marble, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.243

Pedestal for "Venus" after Canova

Thomas Hope · c. 1822/1823 · marble ·  Accession ID  2014.136.243

Warm light coming from the left illuminates four men standing in pairs on either side of a dirt road that winds between rocky, tree-studded hills and a misty river in this almost square landscape painting. The trees have tall, gnarled, brown trunks with high canopies of sage, olive, and forest green while others have golden yellow leaves. The road curves in a C-shape along the foot of the hills that rise up the right side of the composition, their craggy faces painted in warm tones of sand, fawn, and caramel brown. Closest to us is rocky terrain covered with scrubby plants and two moss-covered trees growing next to a broken tree trunk that separates us from the men. The trees are just right of center and divide the scene vertically. The two men to the right of the tree rest among boulders next to the road. One sits and the other stands, and each holds a tall staff. A light-gray, bearded goat lies to the right of the men and closer inspection reveals another grazing nearby. On the left, one man sitting astride a donkey turns his head away from us to look at the man standing just behind him. The men are all simply dressed in knee-length breeches, shirts, and sleeveless coats in shades of brick red, ivory, and tan, or ginger brown, and wear tall, wide brimmed hats. A man driving cattle approaches them from farther back along the road. Beyond the tall trees near the center, the hills slope down to a winding river fringed with trees. The river flows into the distance, past headlands jutting into the water, and ends at a tall mountain rising from the low horizon. A thin wash of butter yellow creates a hazy glow over the river, headlands, and distant mountain. A pale robin's egg-blue sky scattered with petal-pink and dusty rose-colored clouds fills the top of the scene.
Jan Both, An Italianate Evening Landscape, c. 1650, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2000.91.1

An Italianate Evening Landscape

Jan Both · c. 1650 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2000.91.1