|
Alan
Davie
Scottish painter, jewellery designer and jazz musician. The first young
British abstractionist to win international reputation after World War II.
James Alan Davie,
born Sept 28, 1920 in Grangemouth, Scotland as son of a painter and etcher.
He studied at the Edinburgh College of Art from 1937 to 1940. While in
the army in WW2, he concentrated on his other artistic talents as poet
and jazz musician(alto- and tenorsax, piano); member of the Tommy Sampson
Orchestra, touring in England.
After the war he travelled extensively in Europe, and in Venice he was
introduced to the work of American abstract painters like Pollock, Motherwell
and Rothko (Collection Peggy Guggenheim).
Returning to London in 1949, he made a living as jewellery designer (Vivian
Leigh´s jewellery in the film ´Antonius and Cleopatra´)
and worked as jazzmusician.
His first one-man-exhibition took place at Gimpel Fils in London 1950.
Since the mid 50´s more than a hundred one-man-shows in all leading
galleries of Europe and the US.
By the 1960´s, Davie had works in various important collections
including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Contemporary Art Society,
England, and many more (see listing below).
First encounter and
collaboration in 1973 with Tony Oxley, the European pioneer of Improvised
Music experimenting with amplified drumset (1969). Public performances
at Gimpel Fils gallery, Tate Gallery, Maison de Culture, followed.
Duo-concerts in 1974 with Tony Oxley at Harlow College, St. Martin´s
Art College, Hitchin College, Gimpel Hanover, Zurich, recordings for Swiss
broadcast DRS. First release of these recordings on Vinyl in 1975, re-released
in 2003 on Berlin-based label a/l/l.
"The work of
Art seems to be something thrown off - a by-product of the process of
being and working. Art just happens, like falling in love
I feel
very close to the alchemists of old; and, like them, I have in the end
reached some enlightenment in the realization that my work entails a kind
of symbolic self-involvement in the very processes of life itself. And
having thought about it, I am able to come to some definite conclusions
as to the essentially paradoxical and enigmatic nature of art and living"
(Alan Davie, 1958).
"He developed
his own painting philosophy, and in the 1950´s, his introduction
to Zen Buddhism led him to understand the artist as a figure that embodies
both ´the intuitive creator and the intellectual spectator´.
His success in the visual arts continued while he developed his musical
career in the 1970´s, and his work continues to have a wide appeal
today."
One-man-Shows (selection):
1946 |
Grant´s Bookshop, Edinburgh |
1948 |
Galeria Michelangelo, Florence |
|
Galleria Sandri, Venice |
1950 |
Gimple Fils, London |
1956/57 |
Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York |
1958 |
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (Retrospective) |
|
Walker Art Gallery (Retrospective) |
|
Nottingham University (Retrospective) |
|
Wakefield Art Gallery (Retrospective) |
1960 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich |
1961 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles |
|
Galleria del Naiglio, Mailand |
|
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York |
|
Pittsburgh Museum of Art |
1962 |
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Retrospective) |
|
FBA Galleries, London (2. Retrospective) |
1963 |
Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2. Retrospective) |
|
Kunsthalle Bern (2. Retrospective) |
|
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Kunstnernes, Oslo (2. Retrospective) |
|
Kunstgewerbeverein, Pforzheim (2. Retrospective) |
|
Galleria La Medusa, Rom |
|
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas |
|
Museo de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro |
1964 |
Arts Council Gallery, Cambridge |
|
Tate Gallery, London |
|
Galerie Gimpel-Hanover, Zurich |
|
Crestine Gallery, Edinburgh |
1965 |
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York |
|
Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne |
|
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield |
|
Court Gallery, Copenhagen |
|
Galerie Bleu, Stockholm |
|
Galerie d´aujourd´hui, Brussels |
1966 |
Haken Galerie, Oslo |
|
Usher Gallery, Lincoln |
|
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Queen´s Gallery, Leeds |
|
Commonwealth Institute Gallery, Edinburgh |
|
Castle Museum, Norwich |
|
Rotterdamsche Kunstkring |
1967 |
Galerie de France, Paris |
|
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover |
|
The Arts Club, Chicago |
|
University of Minnesota Gallery, Minneapolis |
1971 |
Gimpel and Hanover Galery, Zurich |
1982 |
Royal Glasgow Institution of Fine Arts, Glasgow |
1987 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
1988 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
1989 |
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh |
1990 |
Gimpel and Wetizenhoffer, New York |
|
Galerie Louis Carre, Paris |
1991 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh |
|
Galerie M, Krakau |
1992 |
McLellan Galleries, Glasgow |
1993 |
Evan Cohon Gallery, Highland Park, IL |
|
ACA Galleries, New York |
1994 |
Portugal, Porto, Lissabon, Almada |
|
University of Brighton Gallery, Brighton |
|
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery |
|
Ramsgate Gallery |
|
University of Northumbria at Newcastle |
|
The University Gallery, Nottingham |
|
The Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling |
|
Bineth Gallery, Tel Aviv |
|
ACA Galerie, München |
1997 |
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh |
|
Gimpel Fils, London |
|
ACA Galleries, New York (Alan Davie: A 40 Year Survey) |
1998 |
Joseph Rickards, New York |
|
Faggionato Fine Arts, London |
1999 |
Gimpel Fils, London |
2000 |
Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh (Retrospective) |
2000/01 |
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art |
2001 |
Cobra Museum (Retrospective) |
|
Grants/Awards:
1938 |
Andrew Grant
Scholarship, Edinburgh |
1941 |
Andrew Grant
Scholarship, Edinburgh |
1942 |
Guthrie Award,
Scottish Royal Academy |
1948 |
Andrew Grant
Scholarship, Edinburgh |
1956 |
Gregory Fellowship
in Painting, University of Leeds |
|
Prix Guggenheim
Musee d´Art Moderne, Paris |
1963 |
Painting prize
VII Biennale Sao Paulo |
1966 |
First Prize,
International Print Exhibition, Krakau |
1987 |
Order of the
Southern Cross Award, Brasilien |
1991 |
Senior Fellow
Royal College of Art Convocation, London |
Collective Shows (selection):
1940 |
Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh |
1950 |
Arte Sin Frontera, Mexico City |
1951 |
Abstract Artists, Riverside Museum, New York |
1953 |
Space in Colour, Hanover Gallery, London |
1955 |
International Young Painters (Rom, Paris, Brussels) |
1956 |
Guggenheim Painting Award, Musee Nationale d´Art Moderne, Paris |
1957 |
Guggenheim Museum, New York |
|
50 Ans d´Art Abstrait, Galerie Creuze, Paris |
|
4th International Art Exhibition, Tokyo and Japan |
1958 |
50 Ans d´Art Moderne, World Exhibition Brussels |
|
Artists under 40, XXIX. Biennale, Venice |
|
Contemporary British Paintings, Iraque |
1959 |
Documenta II, Kassel |
|
5th International Art Exhibition, Tokyo and Japan |
|
Vitalita nell´Arte, Palazzo Grassi, Venice |
1959/60 |
European Painting and Sculpture Today, Los Angeles, Ottawa |
1960 |
5th International Exhibition of Drawings and Prints, Lugano |
|
British Painting 1720-1960, Puschkin Museum, Moskau, Eremitage, Leningrad |
|
Das Junge England, Alpbach/Tirol, Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz |
|
1st International Modern Art Exhibition within the framework of the
150th anniversary of the May-Revolution, Buenos Aires |
|
|
1960/61 |
Recent Painting by Six British Artists (Latin America and East Africa) |
1961 |
Malerei und Plastik aus Leeds, Stadthaus Untere Galerie, Dortmund |
1962 |
Pioniere, Curacao Museo |
|
Kunst von 1900 bis heute, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Wien |
1963 |
VII Biennale Sao Paulo (Einzelausstellung im brit. Pavillon, danach
in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, Caracas) |
|
Visione Colore, Palazzo Grassi, Venice |
1964 |
Salon de Mai, Paris |
|
Profile III : Englische Kunst der Gegenwart, Städtische Kunstgalerie,
Bochum |
|
Englische Malerei der Gegenwart, Kunstverein, Düsseldorf |
|
Documenta III, Kassel |
|
International Drawings I, Darmstadt |
1977 |
Documenta VI, Kassel |
|
British Painting 1952-77, Royal Academy of Art, London |
1983 |
Contemporary British Painting, Municipal Museum, Madrid |
1985 |
Recalling the Fifties, Serpentine Gallery, London |
1986 |
Celtic Vision, The Conde Duque Cultural Centre Gallery, Madrid |
1987 |
British Art in the 20th Century, Royal Academy, London |
1988 |
International Contemporary Painting, Olympiades des Artes, Seoul |
|
The Romantic Tradition in Contemporary British Painting |
1990 |
Scottish Art since 1900, Barbican Art Gallery, London |
1991 |
Scottish Art in the 20th Century, Royal West of England Academy |
Public Collections
Australia |
Art
Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide |
|
Art
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney |
Austria |
Museum
des 20. Jahrhunderts, Wien |
|
Galerie
H.S. Steinek, Wien |
Brasil |
Museo
de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo |
Canada |
National
Gallery of Canada, Ottawa |
|
University
of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Alberta |
England |
Arts
Council of Great Britain, London |
|
British
Council, London |
|
Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation, London |
|
Peter
Stuyvesant Foundation, London |
|
Tate
Gallery, London |
|
Victoria
and Albert Museum, London |
|
Contemporary
Art Society, England |
|
Cecil
Higgins Museum, Bedford |
|
Ulster
Museum, Belfast |
|
Aberdeen
Art Gallery |
|
Arts
Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast |
|
City
Art Gallery, Bristol |
|
University
of Durham |
|
Talbot
Rice Gallery, Edinburgh |
|
Towner
Art Gallery, Eastbourne |
|
Scottish
National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh |
|
Scottish
Committee of the Arts Council, Edinburgh |
|
Edinburgh
College of Art |
|
Hunterian
Art Gallery, Glasgow |
|
Lille
Art Gallery, Glasgow |
|
University
of Glasgow |
|
Glasgow
Arts Centre, Dumfries |
|
Ferens
Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull |
|
Museum
and Art Gallery, Kettering |
|
City
Art Gallery, Leeds |
|
Whitworth
Art Gallery, University of Manchester |
|
Laing
Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne |
|
University
of Newcastle |
|
Norfolk
Contemporary Art Society, Norwich |
|
City
Art Gallery, Wakefield |
Germany |
Staatliche
Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden |
|
Städtische
Kunstgalerie, Bochum |
Ireland |
Arts
Council of Ireland, Dublin |
|
Trinity
College, Dublin |
|
Maclaurin
Art Gallery, Ayr |
Israel |
Museum
of Tel Aviv |
Italy |
Peggy
Guggenheim Collection, Venice |
Netherlands |
Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam |
|
Stedelijk
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven |
|
Gemeente
Museum, Den Haag |
|
Boymans-van
Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam |
Norway |
Kunstnernes
Hus, Oslo |
|
National
Gallery, Oslo |
Portugal |
Galerie
Fernando Santos, Porto |
Switzerland |
Kunsthalle
Bern |
USA |
Albright-Knox
Art Gallery, Buffalo |
|
Art
Museum, Phoenix |
|
Berkeley
Square Gallery |
|
Carnegie
Institute, Pittsburgh |
|
Fred
Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma |
|
Institute
of Arts, Detroit |
|
Maxwell
Art Gallery |
|
Museum
of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence |
|
Museum
of Art, San Francisco |
|
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston |
|
Museum
of Fine Arts, Dallas |
|
Museum
of Modern Art, New York |
|
Peggy
Guggenheim Collection |
|
Peterborough
City Museum |
|
University
Art Museum, University of Texas, Austin |
|
Wadsworth
Atheneum, Hartford |
|
Yale
University Art Gallery, New Haven |
|