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Alan Davie

Alan Davie (1920 - 2014) is a Scottish-born musician and painter, saxophonist and poet, and art blacksmith. He studied painting and the blacksmith's craft at the College of Art in Edinburgh and became deeply involved in jazz bands and musical projects at an early age.

Inspired by Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and other American Abstract Expressionist artists, Davie's painting also became increasingly abstract. His fame is furthered by his association with Peggy Guggenheim, who buys one of his paintings. He increasingly exhibited internationally, receiving the Prix Guggenheim in 1956 and participating in the 1958 Venice Biennale and Documenta 2, 3 and 6. He is one of the most important painters of abstract art.

In the 1970s he increasingly focuses on music, becomes a multi-instrumentalist, cooperates with many renowned musicians and gives numerous concerts. Spontaneity and the gift of improvisation characterize his music.

He taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London and was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 1972.

PS

Works for listening