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HAROLD CHRISTOPHER DAVIES (American, 1891- 1976), East Hampton, 1955, Oil on canvas, 45” x 50” (More)

Harold Davies

Biography

Harold Christopher Davies was a painter with whom art came first and commercialism last.  Though he was a remarkably passionate and somewhat prolific artist, he resisted gallery representation until the age of eighty-four, just one year before his death.

Davies began his formal art education at the age of fourteen, enrolling in the Corcoran Art Institute in Washington, D.C.  Later he continued his studies at the San Francisco Institute of Art.

An abstract expressionist, his style was directly influenced by Cezanne, Gorky and de Kooning.  Being a man of intense dedication to his art, he kept extensive notebooks and sketchbooks in which he developed his own artistic and aesthetic philosophy, often through his candid critiques of other artist’s works.

Painting, for Davies, was not a means of earning his living.  Though he exhibited frequently at various local colleges and museums, he never sought public recognition of his talent.  He believed fame compromised the integrity of an artist’s work.  Davies earned his living as a businessman, eventually owning and operating his own chemical company.  He lived a life of balancing his monetary obligations with the true love of his life: painting.

After living in a variety of cities around the United States, Davies moved to Inverness, California in 1969 where he was free to devote all his time to his art.

Selected Exhibitions

Exhibited at the San Francisco Art Associations 46th Annual Exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts and at the Oakland Museum.
Exhibited at the San Francisco Art Associations 47th Annual Exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Exhibited at the San Francisco Art Associations 48th Annual Exhibition at the Legion of Honor.
Exhibited at the San Francisco Art Associations 51st Annual Exhibition at the California School of Fine Arts.
1957: Moved to East Hampton, Long Island, New York and devoted his time to painting. It was here that he knew Gottlieb, Kline and de Kooning, and met Lee Krasner.

Selected Exhibitions

1958-1959: Exhibited at the 20th and 21st Annual Members’ exhibition at Guild Hall, East Hampton. Exhibited at 1st Ashawagh Hall (Springs) Art Gala. Exhibited at Southampton Museum, Southampton, New York.
1959 Southampton Museum
1964: Exhibited at the opening of the University of Long Island Museum, Southampton, New York. Exhibited at the South Fork, Long Island Its Artist exhibition, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York.
1964,66,67 Parrish Art Musem
1966: Exhibited at the 1966 Invitational Exhibition of the Parrish Museum with Green, Krasner, Little, Rattner and Rivers. Parrish Art Museum.
1967: Exhibited at the 15th Annual Fine Arts Festival, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York
1975 Hoover Gallery (San Francisco)
1975: Exhibited at the Hoover Gallery and Marquoit Gallery in a joint exhibition in San Francisco.
1976 Fresno Art Center
1982 Haggin Museum
1982 Huntsville Museum