LONDON.- Currently on show at the Richard Green Gallery, 33 New Bond Street, is a collection of ten works by celebrated Scottish painter, Alan Davie (1920- 2014). The exhibition titled, ‘Alan Davie: Music, Magic and Mythology’ examines his rich and complex oil paintings from 1954 to 1976 and will be on display until the end of March 2015.

Although Alan Davie’s work tends to be grouped with contemporary abstract artists including William Scott, Patrick Heron and Peter Lanyon, his paintings were actually much closer aligned with the surrealist artists in Europe, such as Paul Klee. Representing Britain in the 1958 Venice Biennale and featuring in museum exhibitions across the globe, Davie’s artistic career took a leap forwards in the late 1950s when his first exhibition in New York sold out.

By this time, Davie had found an interest in Zen Buddhism and Jungian psychology that influenced his free, intuitive approach. Based on the ideals found in these practices, the notion of releasing the subconscious from the structures of everyday life was very appealing to him. As a result, he nurtured quick, spontaneous application of paint that was scraped, splashed and dragged across the surface of his canvases. It was during this time that Davie began teaching, firstly at the Central School of Art and then, from 1956-59 as a Gregory Fellow at Leeds University. Here, he encouraged his students to allow art to grow within themselves, in an unforced and relaxed way that would release the creative process. As a result, Davie’s own work shows a variety of imagery and a physical mark making process.

In the 1960’s, at the peak of his career the artist pursued exhilarating sports such as gliding, sailing and diving, and his love of music; the joy of these can be seen in his painting during this period where lighter tones and high spirits of the time reflect in his work showcasing dramatic use of colour and rapid brushwork.