Alan Wheatley Art is delighted to announce an exhibition of important early oil paintings by one of the most influential Modern British living artists, Alan Davie. Alan Davie (born in 1920, Grangemouth, Scotland) is one of Britain's most internationally acclaimed artists of the post-war era. Distinguished by spontaneity, exuberant colour and improvisation, Davie's work has been shown frequently for the last 65 years.

This important exhibition at Alan Wheatley Art will feature 33 oil paintings from the first two decades of the artist’s oeuvre and it will provide the opportunity to view previously unseen significant early works by the artist.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated major new publication, with an essay by Douglas Hall.

…’ This is an important exhibition. The best paintings of Alan Davie reach out to seize the eye, the imagination and the empathetic faculty. ... There is so much more to be said about Alan Davie as man, philosopher, musician, even mystic, that cannot be touched on here. He has written and spoken about his concepts, and has been written about extensively. But above all he speaks through his paintings, and it would be hard to find a better occasion to listen to them than this exhibition.’
Douglas Hall, 2011
(Extract from an essay of the exhibition catalogue)

Like his heroes, Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock and Joan Miró, Alan Davie has drawn inspiration for his paintings from music, jazz in particular, and is himself an accomplished player of several instruments. A multi-faceted talent, Davie has been also absorbed by a wide range of interest, which includes the teachings of Zen philosophy and oriental mysticism, primitive art, modern music, underwater swimming and gliding.

Although Davie’s roots are in Scottish painting, and close to the warmth and vivacity of modern French art, Davie has created his own unique artistic language, related to the diversity of his interests. His work contains strong symbolic elements associated with the very beginnings of art where shapes and signs carried great significance. Davis’ first one-man show was held in 1946 at Grant's Bookshop in Edinburgh. In 1950 Davie held his first one-man London exhibition at Gimpel Fils, where he has been showing regularly ever since. His work can be found in themost eminent private and public collections around the world.

Please contact the gallery for further details or images.