William Robert Davis

{"Id":7627,"Name":"William Robert Davis","Biography":"\u003Cp\u003EWilliam Davis grew up in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. He is a self-taught artist whose oil paintings typically capture the serene light of sunrise or sunset on the water. He employs many of the techniques traditionally used by American luminosity painters to realize his personal vision, showing a marked preference for 19th century subjects.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1987, Davis made history with the first one artist show ever mounted at the prestigious Mystic Maritime Gallery in Mystic, Connecticut.\u0026nbsp; All twenty of the works featured in that show were sold at the opening reception. In 1990 he received the Mystic Maritime Gallery Award of Excellence and his painting entitled \u0022Calm Day off Latimer\u0027s Reef\u0022 appeared on the cover of Mystic\u0027s\u003Cem\u003E The Art of the Sea\u003C/em\u003E Calendar in 1993.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Three of his paintings were also used in \u003Cem\u003EShipwrecks Around Boston\u003C/em\u003E by noted Cape Cod author, William P. Quinn. Rockport Publishers has included Boston Harbor at Sunset in a new book entitled, \u003Cem\u003EA Gallery of Marine Art\u003C/em\u003E. He has also been included in the latest edition of E.H.H. Archibald\u0027s authoritative volume on Marine Art from the Flemish masters to the present.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMuch of Davis\u0027 early works pays homage to 19th century artists such as James Bard, Martin Johnson Heade, Antonio Jacobsen and Fitz Hugh Lane.\u0026nbsp; He limits himself to about 30 colors in the palette of that period. He describes his style as \u0022A conglomerate of a number of ideas I saw in other artists with my own refinements\u0022. Over the years, he has incorporated his fascinations for the different techniques of these artists. This may be best explained in the works of painter, William Merritt Chase, prominently displayed in his studio, \u0022The most original painters are those who have stolen here a little and there a little from everyone. When they arrive a the levels of the masters, they will find they can do so much better work themselves that they can\u0027t help being original\u0022.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDavis has shifted in the last few years to painting more landscapes on location. In the process, he has converted to plein air painting, partly influenced by his friendship with artists Joseph McGurl and Donald Demers. During 1998 the three friends painted together in various locations all over New England. The result of their efforts was a show entitled The New American Luminists Revisit the Native Landscape held at Tree\u0027s Place in Orleans, Massachusetts.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E","Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":false,"HasRelationships":false,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":true,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":false,"TotalArtworks":24}