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Leo Davy : Early Work 1950-1963

Past exhibition
23 May - 27 June 2014 Piano Nobile
  • Summary
  • Works
  • Publications
Summary
Leo Davy Seated Figures I, 1952 Oil on board 54.5 x 30 cm 21 1/2 x 11 3/4 in
Leo Davy
Seated Figures I, 1952
Oil on board
54.5 x 30 cm
21 1/2 x 11 3/4 in

 

Leo Davy is an artist of aesthetic importance when considering post-war abstraction in Britain. Following studies under Reginald Brill at Kingston School of Art in the late 1930's, and later at the Slade from 1942-45 (moving with it to the Ruskin in Oxford), he became an active participant in the London art scene in the 1950's and early 60's. He settled in North Cornwall in 1968 where he lived and worked until his unexpected death in 1987.

 

Davy was included in a mixed summer show at Gimpel Fils in 1950 alongside avant-garde artists of the day, including Patrick Heron, William Gear, Alan Davie and William Scott. Among his circle of friends were the artist John Latham, philosopher and novelist John and Eva Tucker, the art editor of Penguin Books Germano Facetti and John Roberts (son of William Roberts).

 

This is the second exhibition of Davy's work to be held at Piano Nobile. It focuses on the Gimpel Fils era and follows the progression of Davy's work in the early 60's.  Through his abstract panel paintings and works on paper, Davy's dedication to, and development of abstraction, becomes clear.  Applying thick paint and washes to form blocks of colour, often quite angular, Davy reduces and purifies scenes of everyday life into his own carefully considered abstract vision. Undeniably of it's era, Davy's works engage in the international dialogue current at the time in Europe and the United States, through such movements as COBRA and the beginnings of abstract expressionism in New York, with the work of artists such as Mark Toby, Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still.  

 

His close friend, and contemporary at the Slade, Kyffin Williams, has observed: 'Leo was a natural artist who certainly lived in an artist's world of his own. It was lucky that not only was he obsessional but also because he had a very considerable talent. When he drew he seemed to disregard the detail that makes things look real, in order to create the essence...'

(Introduction in Andrew Lambirth, et. al., A Passion to Paint, Leo Davy, 1923-1987, London, pp.6-7). 

 

 

 

 

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Works
  • Leo Davy, Blue and red Abstract, 1950s
    Leo Davy, Blue and red Abstract, 1950s
  • Leo Davy, Standing Figures Deconstructed, 1962
    Leo Davy, Standing Figures Deconstructed, 1962
  • Leo Davy, Head, 1950
    Leo Davy, Head, 1950
  • Leo Davy, Deconstructed Head, 1963
    Leo Davy, Deconstructed Head, 1963
  • Leo Davy, Seated Figures II, 1952
    Leo Davy, Seated Figures II, 1952
  • Leo Davy, Seated Figures I, 1952
    Leo Davy, Seated Figures I, 1952
  • Leo Davy, Black and White, 1952
    Leo Davy, Black and White, 1952
  • Leo Davy, Organic Form, 1953
    Leo Davy, Organic Form, 1953
  • Leo Davy, Sky Forms, 1957
    Leo Davy, Sky Forms, 1957
  • Leo Davy, Blue Abstract, 1955
    Leo Davy, Blue Abstract, 1955
  • Leo Davy, Elements, 1956
    Leo Davy, Elements, 1956
  • Leo Davy, Play II, c. 1954
    Leo Davy, Play II, c. 1954
  • Leo Davy, Elements, 1954
    Leo Davy, Elements, 1954
  • Leo Davy, Red Black Seated Figure, 1952
    Leo Davy, Red Black Seated Figure, 1952
  • Leo Davy, Abstraction, 1950 c.
    Leo Davy, Abstraction, 1950 c.
  • Leo Davy, Untitled, 1954
    Leo Davy, Untitled, 1954
  • Leo Davy, Figures Standing Deconstructed, 1955
    Leo Davy, Figures Standing Deconstructed, 1955
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Publications
  • Leo Davy

    Leo Davy

    Early Works 1950-1963 2014 Booklet 8 pages
    Publisher: Piano Nobile Publications
    Dimensions: 15 x 20 cm
    Read more
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