Head of a Woman | Acrylic on Canvas | Expressionist | Edward A. Davidson | 1976

Details

Description

Edward A. Davidson (1909 - 1987), Head of a Woman, 1976, Acrylic on Canvas, 5" x 7".

This is a … Read more Edward A. Davidson (1909 - 1987), Head of a Woman, 1976, Acrylic on Canvas, 5" x 7".

This is a small but extraordinarily energetic acrylic portrait - a head of a woman rendered in a boldly Expressionist style. Despite measuring just over 5" × 7", it commands attention with the confidence and intensity of a much larger canvas.

The woman's face fills most of the picture plane, gazing directly at the viewer with calm, steady eyes outlined in heavy black. Rather than using naturalistic flesh tones, the artist has built the face from a vibrant mosaic of color - yellows, oranges, pinks, blues, greens, and purples - applied in short, vigorous brushstrokes. The effect is simultaneously fragmented and cohesive, the face readable and human despite its chromatic audacity.

The work shows clear debts to several Modernist traditions. The bold black outlines and jewel-like patches of pure color recall Georges Rouault. The fractured, multi-color approach to rendering flesh is reminiscent of Fauvism - Matisse or Derain - while the overall expressive intensity has something of early German Expressionism about it.

Behind the figure, strong vertical black strokes suggest trees or an architectural setting, with glimpses of blue sky, pink, and soft greens peeking through - grounding the figure in some kind of outdoor or semi-outdoor environment. It bears a circular monogram ED in the lower left and the date '76. The stretcher bars are hand-joined and have a nice aged patina.

Edward A. Davidson did spot and larger illustrations and small paintings for Gourmet, Harper's, and other magazines in the 1950s and 1960s. He also sold hundreds of his drawings and paintings from a small shop/gallery on East 4th Street in Greenwich Village, through the gallery of Julius Carlebach, a few other Manhattan galleries and dealers and through many art and antique shows. See less