William R. Davis, born 1952, in Somerville, Massachusetts. For the most part self-educated as a painter, Davis has combined natural artistic ability with a capacity for keen observation of art from the past, an interest in art history, and a willingness to experiment with technique to achieve his own, original, artistic vision.
Until recently Davis built his reputation as a marine artist, specializing in highly detailed yachting and historic schooner scenes. He subsequently discovered landscape and coastal painting initiated on location and has taken these to the extraordinary level of his marine work. He has simultaneously improved the latter by a newly acquired understanding of land and sea as observed in nature.
Davis' response to the land is best depicted in his paintings of twilight and sunrise. He believes this is the best time of day for painters to capture the 'inner state' of a landscape. By reducing
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