Bio Alan Davie

Alan Davie (1920-2014) is one of Scotland’s most internationally recognised artists with works in public collections across the world.

Art collections and museums owning work by Alan Davie include the Tate Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, National Galleries of Scotland, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Davie studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1938-40. As a young man, he developed a love of the arts, wrote poetry and played the saxophone in a jazz band. In 1945 Davie was deeply impressed by two exhibitions – Picasso at the V&A and Klee at the Tate. Davie was inspired by American Abstract Expressionism as well as Surrealism. He developed his own unique form of expression combining mythic imagery, enigmatic symbols and his affinity with Zen.

Like Jackson Pollock, many of Davie’s works were executed by standing above the painting, which was laid on the ground, he added layers of paint until sometimes the original painting had been covered over many times which helped create his own unique style.

Many living artists owe a lot to Davie and his carrying influence, none more so than David Hockney.

In 1958 Alan Davie had his first solo exhibition at Wakefield Art Gallery, which went on to tour nationally and launched Davie’s career. A young attendee at the Wakefield exhibition was David Hockney, then a student at Bradford College of Art.

The exhibition was a pivotal influence on Hockney’s artistic development and shortly after this visit, Hockney moved to London to take up a place at the Royal College of Art.

In 2019-2020, the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield celebrated this attainment with the ‘Alan Davie & David Hockney: Early Works’ exhibition.

It is a realisation moment, when you consider David Hockney the World’s most expensive paintwork by a living artist is in exhibition with Alan Davie for the influential footprint that Hockney undoubtedly carried throughout his own career.

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Artist Performance At Auction

ALAN DAVIE
PETER’S JOY-PIT
1961

(oil on canvas)
Estimated: £20,000-£30,000
Sold for: £112,500
Return over upper estimate: 275%

ALAN DAVIE
FISH LOVES DOG
1966
(oil on paper)

Estimated: £2,000 – £3,000
Sold For: £13,750
Return over upper estimate: 358%