Up: [[Artists and Art Movements]] Created: 2023-03-07 Updated: 2023-03-09 I was already predisposed to like Alan Davie simply because he was Scottish. My enthusiasm was enhanced when I saw a photo of him. He reminded me so much of Bert’s dad, Bobby McGee. Silken white hair, a long beard, an open and generous smile. Leather sandals over white socks. The best article that I found about him was by Patrick Elliott, a curator from the National Gallery in Scotland who knew Davie well (he spoke of himself in the third person as ‘Davie’) and said that he always greeted people with a [warm hug](https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/alan-davie-1920-2014) ![[Alan Davie.webp]] Davie was born on September 28th, 1920. He died April 5th, 2014 at the age of 94. His wife Bili, a potter, pre-deceased him by seven years. Considered Scotland’s most important artist of the twentieth century, Davie’s fame peaked in the 1960s. He was the most famous of British artists during those years. He drove a Jaguar, flew a glider, had a yacht that took him and his wife to their winter home in St. Lucia. The turning point for Davie seems to have been 1948. That’s when he took advantage of a travelling scholarship that he’d won when he studied at Edinburgh College of Art. It was while travelling in Italy that Davie first saw Jackson Pollock’s Abstract Expressionism at an exhibition in Venice. Davie was inspired to paint large pieces, to be bold in his handling of paint, to respond freely and intuitively. Davie had varied interests and, I assume, a need to make money before his art could be pursued full time. He made jewellery from 1949-1953. Some of his jewellery was worn by Vivian Leigh in the movie *Anthony and Cleopatra.* He worked as a jazz musician, playing saxophone. He wrote poetry in the early 1940s. In the mid fifties, Davies developed an interest in Zen Buddhism and oriental mysticism. And from all of these influences and his viewing of Pollock’s work, Davie developed his own style, which was both abstract and symbolic. He used symbols from a variety of cultures, such as ancient shamanic rites, Tantric art, Egyptian, and magic. He was always searching for the numinous, and believed that true art must tap into the [[Collective Unconscious]] Davie had a tremendously strong work ethic his entire life. He met Pollock, Rothko and De Kooning in 1956 but rather than being in awe of them, as so many were, he felt they’d wasted their time and talent hanging out in bars when they could have been in their studios, painting. Davie himself lived a very quiet life, rarely going out, preferring to work in his studio and to enjoy the giant Toblerone bars the curator would take him as a treat. . If I want to see some original Alan Davies, some of his paintings are hanging in the Carleton University art gallery. I don’t know which ones. # Examples of Alan Davie’s Art This first painting is called Mama Idol. It was painted in 1976. The second is Untitled and was painted in 2012.Although I don’t know what most of the symbols in Mama Idol mean, I like the bright colours and the composition. The orange bordered cards in the center look like tarot cards to me. I enjoy this painting and would love to know more about it. I also love the what looks like ticker tape or confetti on the left. The second painting, Untitled, is much more difficult for me to admire. Other than an admittedly more interesting and well-balanced composition than I would do, it looks very much like the kind of painting I would make as a background for some Down Deep work. ![[Mama Idol painting by Alan Davie.webp]] ![[Untitled 2012 painting by Alan Davie.webp|500]] ### Update 2023-03-09 I just found this painting of Davie’s. It’s called Mystical Landscape No. 4. I really like the symbols, the way he has the snake slithering across two of the three panels, and the red ground at the bottom. There’s so much to explore in this painting. Hmm, I just realized. It looks like the snake might actually be Nessie. I hadn’t noticed the horns before. This is a beautiful piece. And it’s made in gouache. I really love the tones (probably not the right word). It’s bold and soft at the same time. I’ve done my own of this one [[Painting in the Style of Alan Davie]]. ![[Alan Davie Mystical Landscape No. 4.webp]]