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Biography
Davie was born into an artistic family in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire and later attended the Edinburgh College of Art where in addition to painting he worked in textile design, pottery and jewellery. During the second world war he served in the Royal Artillery and rather like Spike Milligan he extended his talents by playing jazz, and, in his case, writing poetry and continuing to paint. In 1947 he took up a travelling scholarship that brought him into contact with Peggy Guggenheim in Venice and it was there that through her he took up a long standing interest in american abstract expressionism. In 1948 he settled in London and had his first one-man show at the Gimpel Fils Gallery in 1950. From the 1950's onward he grew increasingly interested in the symbols of oriental mysticism and in amero-indian and ancient indian hieroglyphics. Such symbolism has found a ready entry into his colourful and structured abstractionism. Davie has exhibited throughout Europe and the US. It is much to his credit that he has evolved a highly distinctive and pleasing style within the congested fields of modern art. |
