Alan Davie

Alan Davie was a Scottish painter, whose style is marked by vibrant colors, semi-abstract shapes, and a captivating interplay of cross-cultural symbolism. He moved away from traditional composition techniques and subject matter, aiming to liberate his art from preplanned decisions. This method was heavily influenced by his interest in Zen Buddhism and is somewhat comparable to jazz—Davie was, in fact, a jazz saxophonist early in his career. During the late 1950s and 1960s, his brushwork became more refined, and his imagery more recognizable. Mysterious symbols started to emerge in his work, drawn from diverse sources such as American Indian pottery, maps, ancient rock carvings, and Aboriginal art.