Warren Davis Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting

Item Details

Warren Davis (Amarillo, Texas, 1932 – 1974)
Untitled (abstract), 1960
Oil painting on board
Signed to the lower left
Provenance: From the collection of H.C. Brillhart.

Warren Davis was born in Amarillo, TX, in 1932. Davis studied at the University of Texas and at Oklahoma State University before arriving at his unique aesthetic under the guidance of Amarillo artist and gallerist Dord Fitz. Beginning in 1962, he lived and worked in New York City, where he achieved critical and commercial success. Relocating to Tesuque, New Mexico, in 1971, he continued to paint steadily and intensely until his premature passing in 1974.

In the estimation of Elaine de Kooning, “Davis’ work has always been remarkably consistent, expressing a sense of wholeness and clarity, of tension within tranquility – no loose ends, no raw colors, no indecisiveness.” Marked by a serene extravagance and rigorously controlled gesture, the paintings of Warren Davis achieve a startling balance between brilliant hues and icy darks to create a form of unimpeded expression manifest in broad curtains of astounding chromatic complexity.

Most of Davis’ canvases are simply titled Untitled. The content of the painting for Davis was in the making of it. Looking at this painting, we see the buildup of an image that’s form has been excavated out of colors being mixed directly on the canvas. In terms of color, we see a cascade of beautifully tinted neutrals. In painting, this is called chromatic grays. Not the gray mixed with black and white but grays filled with traces of color. Most colors are made by mixing the primaries, red, yellow, and blue.
- biography from AMOA.org

Condition

- scratches and paint loss to the frame; painting examined under UV light.

Dimensions

- measures frame; sight measures 15.25" W x 19.25" H.

Item #

ITMGH21701