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Opus 20 D Tell Me of That Colourful Night

Opus 20 D Tell Me of That Colourful Night

1958

Painting : oil

© Estate of the Artist, Courtesy of Gimpel Fils

Image credit University of Leeds

Details

Artist(s): Davie, Alan (1920-2014)(Artist)

Title: Opus 20 D Tell Me of That Colourful Night

Date created: 1958

Accession number: LEEUA 2009.030

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/2783

Collection group(s): University Art Collection

Description

Alan Davie was a rising star when he was invited to become the University of Leeds’s third Gregory Fellow in Painting from 1957-59. At Leeds, his work became more brightly-coloured and his brushstrokes more fluid and liquid.

Though Davie’s style changed over his career, it was always characterised by an automatic, spontaneous technique, informed by ideas of the unconscious. The artist explained that ‘ideas and forms come intuitively out of the act of painting, driven by an intense inner urge to create, without any specific pre-conceived formal concept’. For Davie, painting was an experience, one that made life vital and thrilling. He sought other ways to access this open, transcendent state: a keen jazz musician all his life, Davie also enjoyed flying gliders and sailing as a young man.

Physical characteristics

Category: Painting

Technique: easel

Medium: oil

Support: paper

Object: width 533mm height 419mm

Frame: width 810mm height 710mm depth 45mm

Accession details

Accession number: LEEUA 2009.030

Accession date: 2009

Credit: © Estate of the Artist, Courtesy of Gimpel Fils

Source: Purchase

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