ALAN DAVIE JAZZ NIGHT
- Indelible Fine Art 9-10 Jew Street Brighton, England, BN1 1UT United Kingdom (map)
Join Us for an Evening of Art and Jazz
• Alan Davie Collection Exhibition •
Indelible Fine Art would like to welcome you to our Alan Davie, Art and Jazz Night.
The Opening will be the 28th of February 2025 at 6pm at our gallery in North Laine 9-10 Jew Street Brighton BN11UT
The exhibition will be up for the week but as we are a small space to get the full experience please attend opening night or our desks may be in the way 🤭
You know the drill..
• LIVE MUSIC • FREE CHAMPAGNE • GREAT ART •
This special event is not just an exhibition but an experience where creativity flows freely, and connections are made. Whether you’re an art enthusiast, a jazz lover, or simply looking for an inspiring evening, this is the perfect chance to unwind and enjoy the best of Brighton’s cultural scene.
Immerse yourself in the soulful sounds of Mimi Rose, whose enchanting voice will set the perfect tone for the evening.
Location: Indelible Fine Art, 9-10 Jew Street, Brighton, BN1 1UT
Tickets: Free entry, with complimentary refreshments available
Mark your calendars—we can’t wait to welcome you!
Who Is Alan Davie?
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MIMI ROSE
The event will feature a live jazz performance by the acclaimed Mimi Rose, a London-based jazz singer known for her soulful vocals, glamorous style, and captivating energy. With a repertoire ranging from classic jazz standards to reimagined modern hits, Mimi’s performance will perfectly complement the vibrant atmosphere of the exhibition.
A seasoned performer with international experience, Mimi has entertained at prestigious venues and events for clients such as Harrods, Annabel’s Mayfair, and the Henley Festival. Her rich, nostalgic tone and storytelling through song promise to make this an unforgettable evening of art and music.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: Untitled
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Size: 104 × 84 cm
This vibrant mixed media work on paper captures the unmistakable visual language of celebrated Scottish artist Alan Davie.
Against bold fields of yellow and deep green, Davie brings together a playful vocabulary of abstract figures, symbols, eyes, geometric forms and richly patterned marks. The composition has a distinctly rhythmic quality, reflecting the artist’s lifelong relationship with music and improvisation.
Davie approached painting intuitively, allowing imagery to emerge freely rather than working towards a predetermined composition. His fascination with mythology, ancient cultures, symbolism and the subconscious resulted in a highly individual language of recurring signs and mysterious forms.
Energetic, colourful and characteristically enigmatic, this substantial work on paper is an excellent example of Davie’s instantly recognisable approach to abstraction.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: Venezuelan Landscape No. 2
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Year: 2002
Size: 40 × 48 in
Painted in 2002, Venezuelan Landscape No. 2 presents a vivid and characterful interpretation of the Venezuelan landscape through Alan Davie’s unmistakable visual language.
Buildings, palm trees, pathways and architectural forms are arranged across the canvas in a richly coloured, almost dreamlike composition. Rather than pursuing conventional perspective, Davie transforms the landscape through expressive colour, simplified forms and an intuitive sense of rhythm.
Warm ochres, reds and pinks are set against deep greens, creating a work that feels energetic yet remarkably atmospheric. The elevated viewpoint draws the eye through the composition, revealing new details throughout the scene.
A substantial oil on canvas, Venezuelan Landscape No. 2 demonstrates another side of Davie’s practice while retaining the spontaneity, colour and expressive freedom for which his work is celebrated.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Songs of the Grackle No. 12
Year: 1982
Medium: Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 70 × 65 cm
Created in 1982, Songs of the Grackle No. 12 is a vibrant example of Alan Davie’s highly distinctive approach to abstraction and symbolic imagery.
The composition brings together a fascinating vocabulary of recurring signs, creatures, patterned forms and enigmatic symbols. Against fields of purple, turquoise and earthy green, Davie combines checkerboard passages, serpentine lines, an eye, crescent moon, floral forms and mysterious figures to create a work that invites continual discovery.
Music was fundamental to Davie’s creative life, and his paintings often developed through a similarly improvisational process. Rather than constructing a fixed narrative, he allowed forms and symbols to emerge intuitively, giving the work its characteristic sense of rhythm, spontaneity and mystery.
Rich in colour and detail, Songs of the Grackle No. 12 is a compelling work from an important period in Davie’s career and an excellent example of his unmistakable visual language.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Verb Endings
Year: 2011
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Verb Endings is a richly layered late work by Alan Davie, bringing together the bold colour, recurring symbols and instinctive mark-making that defined his unmistakable visual language.
The composition is densely populated with spirals, checkerboard patterns, geometric structures, numbers, fragmented words and enigmatic signs. These elements overlap and interlock across the canvas, creating a remarkable sense of movement and visual rhythm.
Language itself becomes part of the imagery. References to verb endings and fragments of text sit alongside Davie’s abstract symbols, blurring the boundaries between writing, drawing and painting. The result is a work that feels almost like an invented system of communication — energetic, mysterious and deliberately open to interpretation.
Created in 2011, Verb Endings demonstrates the extraordinary vitality Davie maintained throughout his later career and his continued fascination with symbolism, language and spontaneous image-making.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: The Birth of Gobble Me No. 2
Year: 1969
Size: 22 × 30 in
Created in 1969, The Birth of Gobble Me No. 2 is a playful and highly distinctive work by Alan Davie, combining bold colour with the mysterious symbolic language that became central to his practice.
The composition brings together an extraordinary cast of abstract forms: a crescent moon, floral marks, geometric structures, patterned limbs and a striking circular motif. Set against the open ground of the paper, each element appears almost like a character within Davie’s own invented visual world.
Davie was fascinated by mythology, ancient symbols, magic and the subconscious, often allowing images to emerge intuitively as he worked. Here, familiar-looking signs are transformed into something enigmatic and entirely his own, creating a composition that feels simultaneously humorous, ritualistic and surreal.
Dating from an important period in Davie’s career, The Birth of Gobble Me No. 2 is a wonderfully characterful example of his imaginative and instantly recognisable approach.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: Hot Night No. 2
Year: 1976
Medium: Watercolour on Paper
Size: 98 × 72 cm
Created in 1976, Hot Night No. 2 is an atmospheric work by Alan Davie, demonstrating the freedom, energy and instinctive approach that characterised his practice.
Sweeping passages of red, orange, pink and yellow emerge from a deep, earthy ground, punctuated by expressive splashes and gestural marks. The composition feels spontaneous and rhythmic, with layers of translucent colour creating a remarkable sense of depth and movement.
Davie’s close relationship with jazz and improvisation was fundamental to his approach to painting. Rather than following a predetermined composition, he worked intuitively, allowing colour, gesture and form to develop organically across the surface.
Hot Night No. 2 captures this sense of immediacy beautifully — a dynamic and expressive work from an important period in Davie’s career.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: Venezuelan Landscape
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 122 × 102 cm
Venezuelan Landscape is a vibrant and characterful work by Alan Davie, revealing a more figurative side to an artist celebrated for his bold and instinctive approach to painting.
Viewed from an elevated perspective, the composition unfolds across a colourful townscape of houses, palm trees, winding roads and passing vehicles. Davie deliberately plays with scale and perspective, creating a landscape that feels animated, spontaneous and full of movement.
A rich palette of pinks, ochres, greens and blues gives the work an immediate warmth, while the energetic brushwork and simplified architectural forms retain the freedom associated with Davie’s abstract practice.
At over a metre in scale, Venezuelan Landscape has considerable presence and offers a compelling example of Davie translating the world around him into his own highly individual visual language.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Untitled
Medium: Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 55 × 61 cm
This striking work on paper is a vibrant example of Alan Davie’s distinctive visual language, bringing together intricate pattern, bold colour and the enigmatic symbols that recur throughout his practice.
Set against contrasting fields of purple and vivid red, the composition is dominated by an extraordinary network of interlocking, creature-like forms. Spirals, faces, geometric motifs and densely patterned passages appear throughout, creating an image that rewards close inspection.
Davie drew inspiration from mythology, ancient cultures, music and the subconscious, developing his compositions intuitively rather than according to a fixed narrative. Here, recognisable forms seem to shift between animals, masks and imagined symbols, giving the work an almost mythical quality.
Richly detailed and immediately recognisable as Davie, this substantial gouache on paper is a compelling example of the artist’s imaginative and highly individual approach to abstraction.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Untitled
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Dimensions: 78 × 103 cm
This substantial work on paper is a compelling example of Alan Davie’s distinctive approach to colour, symbolism and intuitive image-making.
The composition brings together a series of enigmatic forms, letters and geometric motifs across softly worked fields of blue, pink, cream and violet. Individual elements appear almost like fragments of an unknown alphabet, creating a visual language that feels playful yet deliberately mysterious.
Davie’s fascination with ancient symbols, mythology and the subconscious informed much of his practice. Rather than assigning his imagery a fixed meaning, he allowed forms to emerge instinctively, encouraging the viewer to make their own associations and interpretations.
At over a metre wide, this Untitled work has significant presence while retaining the spontaneity and intimacy of Davie’s works on paper. It is a strong example of the artist’s instantly recognisable visual language.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist - Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title - Futile Attempts to Extract a meaning
Year - 2008
Medium - Paintings / Oil on Canvas
Dimensions - 30in. x 38in.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Untitled
Medium: Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 75 × 87 cm
This vibrant work on paper is a striking example of Alan Davie’s fascination with symbols, signs and invented visual languages.
Against a vivid yellow ground, Davie constructs a playful composition dominated by a large pink organic form filled with striped, curved and geometric motifs. Handwritten text runs across the upper section of the work, while two small figures appear below, giving the composition an intriguing sense of scale and narrative.
The visible drips, splashes and irregular painterly marks are integral to the work, retaining the spontaneity and physicality of Davie’s process. Rather than presenting a fixed meaning, the imagery encourages interpretation, reflecting the artist’s longstanding interest in mythology, ancient symbols and subconscious image-making.
Bold, humorous and enigmatic, this Untitled gouache is a highly characteristic example of Davie’s distinctive approach.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Yellow Dog
Year: 1963
Medium: Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 67 × 97 in
Yellow Dog is a vivid and playful work by Alan Davie, bringing together the bold colour, spontaneous mark-making and mysterious symbolic imagery that define his distinctive visual language.
Framed by sweeping bands of yellow, red and blue, the composition is populated by an energetic collection of signs, plant-like forms, abstract objects and loosely figurative motifs. Among them sits the small spotted yellow dog that gives the work its title, introducing a wonderfully playful focal point within the densely imagined scene.
Davie approached painting intuitively, drawing inspiration from music, mythology, ancient symbols and the subconscious. The deliberately loose brushwork, drips and irregular marks are integral to the work, giving the composition an immediate and uninhibited quality.
Colourful, enigmatic and full of character, Yellow Dog is a distinctive example of Davie’s ability to create an entirely personal world of imagery through colour, gesture and symbol.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Bird on a Stick
Year: 2004
Medium: Oil on Paper
Dimensions: 11 × 12 in
Created in 2004, Bird on a Stick is a wonderfully playful example of Alan Davie’s late work, filled with the spontaneous marks, vivid colour and enigmatic imagery that remained central to his practice.
A fantastical, brightly patterned bird takes centre stage, perched high above a loosely imagined landscape. Around it, Davie introduces a cast of symbolic forms — crosses, totem-like figures, fish, vessels and small architectural motifs — set against expressive washes of pink, blue, ochre and yellow.
The looseness of the painted surface is particularly important here. Visible washes, splashes and irregular marks give the work an immediate, almost improvisational quality, while Davie’s bold black lines hold the composition together.
Small in scale but exceptionally rich in detail, Bird on a Stick captures the humour, freedom and visual curiosity that continued to define Davie’s work throughout his career.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist - Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title - Listen
Year - 2011
Medium - Paintings / oil on canvas
Dimensions - 121.9cm. x 101.6cm.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Auspicious Signs No. 2
Year: 1996
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 76.2 × 96.5 cm
Auspicious Signs No. 2 is a richly layered work that brings together many of the motifs central to Alan Davie’s distinctive visual language.
Set against a landscape of mountains, water and vivid blue sky, the composition is densely populated with architectural forms, figures, geometric patterns and mysterious symbols. A pale animal occupies the foreground, while totem-like figures and circular signs emerge throughout the scene, creating an imagined world that feels both ancient and fantastical.
Davie was deeply interested in mythology, symbolism and intuitive image-making. Here, recognisable forms sit alongside more ambiguous signs and patterns, inviting the viewer to explore the painting without prescribing a single narrative or meaning.
The strong black outlines, saturated colour and densely worked surface give the composition remarkable presence. Auspicious Signs No. 2 is a characteristically energetic example of Davie’s mature practice.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.
Artist - Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title - 3 Blue Clubs
Year - 2013
Medium - Paintings, Works on paper / Oil on Paper
Dimensions - 16cm. x 21cm.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Untitled
Year: 2012
Medium: Oil on paper
Dimensions: 21 × 30 cm
Presentation: Framed
Alan Davie’s Untitled (2012) is a vibrant work on paper showcasing the expressive colour, energetic mark-making and instinctive abstraction that defined his celebrated career.
Bold yellows, greens, reds and deep blues are brought together through layers of spontaneous brushwork and symbolic forms. The intimate scale contrasts with the energy of the composition, creating a work that feels immediate, playful and distinctly Davie.
Created during the final years of the Scottish artist’s life, the piece is a compelling example of his enduring exploration of colour, symbolism and spontaneous expression.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork: Untitled
Year: 1977
Medium: Black & white gouache on paper
Dimensions: 47 × 65 cm
Presentation: Framed
Alan Davie’s Untitled (1977) is a striking work on paper that demonstrates the Scottish artist’s distinctive approach to spontaneous mark-making and symbolic abstraction.
Executed in a bold monochrome palette, the composition brings together geometric panels, mysterious symbols and playful graphic forms. Keys, circular motifs and patterned shapes emerge throughout the work, creating an enigmatic visual language characteristic of Davie’s practice.
Stripped of the vibrant colour often associated with his paintings, this black and white work places particular emphasis on line, form and contrast, revealing the confidence and immediacy of Davie’s draughtsmanship.
A distinctive original work from an important period in the career of one of Britain’s most celebrated post-war abstract artists.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Title:Frog Magic
Year: 1968
Medium: Gouache on paper
Dimensions: 53 × 76 cm
Presentation: Framed
Description : Alan Davie’s Frog Magic (1968) is a vibrant work on paper that captures the celebrated Scottish artist’s instinctive and highly distinctive visual language. Bold areas of colour are combined with playful, symbolic forms, abstract figures and energetic mark-making, creating a composition that feels both spontaneous and carefully balanced.
Davie drew inspiration from mythology, ancient cultures, jazz and the subconscious, developing a unique vocabulary of signs and symbols that became central to his work. In Frog Magic, vivid greens, blues, reds and yellows interact with curious creature-like forms and graphic motifs, giving the work an almost ritualistic, dreamlike quality.
Created in 1968, during an important period in Davie’s career, the work is a striking example of the freedom, imagination and experimentation for which he became internationally recognised.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Yoga Structures No.5
Medium: Paintings / Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 78cm x 130cm
Description : Alan Davie’s Yoga Structures No. 5 is a vibrant and highly characteristic example of the Scottish artist’s distinctive visual language. Executed in gouache on paper, the work brings together vivid colour, bold geometric forms and an extraordinary vocabulary of symbols and playful, almost hieroglyphic imagery.
Davie was fascinated by mythology, spirituality, ancient cultures and ideas surrounding the subconscious. Here, these influences emerge through a densely constructed composition of abstract figures, organic forms, repeated patterns and mysterious signs, set dramatically against an intense yellow ground.
The work captures the spontaneity and freedom that made Davie one of the most important British abstract painters of the post-war period. Energetic, colourful and immediately recognisable, Yoga Structures No. 5 offers a particularly striking example of Davie’s ability to create his own seemingly instinctive visual world.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Yoru No.2
Medium: Works on paper / Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 101.5cm x 77cm
Description : Alan Davie’s Yoru No.2 is a vibrant work on paper that showcases the Scottish artist’s unmistakable visual language of colour, symbolism and spontaneous mark-making.
Executed in gouache, the composition brings together bold organic forms, rhythmic patterns and mysterious symbols, including the striking concentric target motif. Layers of vivid purple, yellow, blue, green and red give the work a powerful sense of movement, while expressive drips and gestural marks retain the immediacy of Davie’s creative process.
Influenced by mythology, ancient cultures, spirituality, jazz and the subconscious, Davie developed a deeply personal vocabulary of signs and symbols throughout his career. Yoru No.2 is a particularly energetic example of this approach, balancing controlled graphic imagery with the freedom and spontaneity for which his work became internationally recognised.
Artist : Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title : Untitled
Year : 1997
Medium : Works on paper / Gouache on Paper
Dimensions : 55.5cm. x 50cm.
Description : Alan Davie’s Untitled (1997) is a vibrant work on paper that showcases the Scottish artist’s distinctive combination of expressive mark-making, bold colour and enigmatic symbolism.
Executed in gouache, the composition layers playful figurative motifs, free-flowing lines and vivid washes of red, yellow, green and purple around prominent handwritten text. The spontaneous arrangement reflects Davie’s fascination with language, ancient symbols, mythology and the subconscious.
Created in 1997, the work demonstrates the energetic and instinctive approach that remained central to Davie’s practice throughout his career. Its combination of words, mysterious imagery and uninhibited colour makes it a characterful example of his immediately recognisable visual language.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Shamans Window No.4
Year: 1999
Medium: Works on paper / Gouache on Paper
Dimensions: 73cm x 82cm
Description : Alan Davie’s Shamans Window No.4 (1999) is a richly detailed work on paper, bringing together the bold colour, mysterious symbolism and instinctive mark-making that define the Scottish artist’s distinctive visual language.
The composition is densely populated with concentric circles, geometric forms, repeated dots and mask-like imagery, creating an almost hypnotic surface. Davie’s fascination with mythology, ancient cultures, spirituality and the subconscious is particularly evident, with symbols appearing to form their own mysterious visual language.
Executed in gouache on paper, Shamans Window No.4 balances intricate pattern with spontaneous expression. Created in 1999, it is a striking example of Davie’s later work and his lifelong exploration of imagination, symbolism and the freedom of the creative process.
Artist : Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title : Laughing Mat No2
Year : 2013
Medium : Paintings / Oil on paper
Dimensions : 16.5cm. x 20.5cm.
Description : Alan Davie’s Laughing Mat No.2 (2013) is a bold and expressive work that demonstrates the remarkable freedom and spontaneity that remained central to the Scottish artist’s practice throughout his career.
Executed in oil on paper, the composition is defined by strong black gestural lines alongside areas of turquoise, ochre, yellow and earthy brown. Its simplified abstract forms create a playful visual language, reflecting Davie’s enduring fascination with symbols, improvisation and subconscious expression.
Created in 2013, Laughing Mat No.2 comes from the final years of Davie’s career and demonstrates the confidence and immediacy of his later work. Despite its intimate scale, the piece possesses a striking graphic presence and captures the instinctive approach for which Davie became internationally recognised.
Artist - Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title : The Farmers Family Experience a Strange Blue Revolving Object
Year : 2011
Medium : Paintings, Works on paper / Oil & Felt-Tip on Paper
Dimensions : 25.5cm. x 30cm.
Description : Alan Davie’s The Farmers Family Experience a Strange Blue Revolving Object (2011) is a wonderfully imaginative work that captures the playful symbolism and instinctive creativity characteristic of the Scottish artist’s later practice.
Executed in oil and felt-tip on paper, the composition centres around a vivid blue, eye-like form surrounded by fluid shapes, miniature figures, numbers and mysterious symbols. Soft washes of green, turquoise, ochre and purple create a dreamlike environment in which Davie’s marks appear to float freely across the surface.
The intriguing title adds another layer of narrative to the work, inviting the viewer to interpret the strange central object and the curious world surrounding it. Created in 2011, the piece demonstrates Davie’s enduring fascination with mythology, the subconscious and the creation of his own highly personal visual language.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Room of the Shaman No.2
Year: 1996
Medium: Paintings / Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 76cm x 96cm
Description : Alan Davie’s Room of the Shaman No.2 (1996) is a striking oil on canvas that immerses the viewer in the artist’s distinctive world of symbolism, geometry and vivid colour.
The composition combines intricate circular motifs, spirals, grids and interlocking forms with bold areas of turquoise, pink, red and blue. Davie’s fascination with shamanism, mythology and ancient systems of signs is reflected throughout the work, transforming the imagined interior into a mysterious and highly energetic visual environment.
Created in 1996, Room of the Shaman No.2 is a powerful example of Davie’s mature practice, bringing together expressive painting and his unmistakable symbolic language in a substantial and visually commanding canvas.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Da Gran Cantidad
Edition: Original
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 76cm x 96cm
Framing: Framed
Description : Alan Davie’s Da Gran Cantidad is a vibrant original oil on canvas that showcases the artist’s unmistakable combination of bold colour, intricate pattern and mysterious symbolic imagery.
The composition is alive with geometric structures, concentric circles, abstract signs and richly patterned forms, set against striking areas of pink, orange, turquoise and red. Davie’s fascination with ancient cultures, mythology and symbolic languages can be seen throughout, while the energetic arrangement gives the work a distinctly playful and instinctive quality.
With its strong graphic presence and densely layered imagery, Da Gran Cantidad is a striking example of Davie’s highly individual approach to abstraction and his ability to create an entirely unique visual language.
Artist : Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title : Mask
Year : 1977
Medium : Paintings / Oil on Canvas
Dimensions : 101cm. x 76cm.
Description : Alan Davie’s Mask (1977) belongs to a particularly significant period in the Scottish artist’s exploration of masks, archetypal imagery and symbolic forms. Davie had produced a number of works centred around the idea of the mask during the 1970s, including his Guru Mask and Figure Mask works, with the motif becoming part of his wider investigation into symbols that recur across different cultures.
Executed in oil on canvas, Mask brings together overlapping face-like forms, repeated eye motifs and sweeping bands of pink, blue, white, ochre and black. Rather than presenting a conventional portrait, Davie constructs an almost ritualistic image from fragmented and interconnected forms, allowing multiple possible figures and faces to emerge from the composition.
Davie believed in the existence of an archetypal visual language, drawing inspiration from sources including shamanism, Zen Buddhism, ancient cultures and Jungian ideas surrounding the collective unconscious. Combined with the improvisational freedom he developed as a jazz musician, these influences helped create the instinctive and highly individual visual language seen here.
Painted in 1977, Mask is a compelling example of this important strand of Davie’s practice: bold, enigmatic and deliberately open to interpretation.
Artist: Alan Davie (Scottish, 1920–2014)
Artwork Title: Stop Fortunate Fig Wheel
Year: 1997
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 96.5cm x 76.2cm
Presentation: Framed
Alan Davie’s Stop Fortunate Fig Wheel (1997) is a richly layered oil on canvas that brings together the symbols, words and freely invented imagery that became central to the artist’s distinctive visual language.
Against a vivid turquoise ground, Davie constructs an enigmatic world of wheel-like forms, ladders, architectural structures, pictographic marks and curious organic shapes. Words including “BREATHE” and “Stop” appear directly within the composition, blurring the distinction between written language and visual symbol. The recurring circular and wheel motifs create a strong sense of movement, while areas of orange, yellow, red and black punctuate the surface.
Davie’s work was deeply informed by his interest in mythology, spirituality, ancient cultures and systems of symbolic communication. Rather than giving his imagery a single fixed meaning, he used signs and forms intuitively, allowing unexpected associations to emerge through the process of painting.
Created in 1997, Stop Fortunate Fig Wheel is a compelling example of Davie’s later practice: energetic, mysterious and densely populated with the personal vocabulary of signs, words and archetypal forms that characterised his work.
Artist: Alan Davie
Artwork: A Game of Spirals
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 48 × 40 in
A vibrant and richly layered work by celebrated Scottish artist Alan Davie, A Game of Spirals brings together the distinctive visual language that defined his practice.
Set against an intense blue ground, the composition is alive with spiralling forms, symbols, geometric motifs and passages of vivid colour. Davie’s intuitive approach to painting drew inspiration from mythology, music, ancient cultures and the subconscious, creating works that feel simultaneously spontaneous and deeply symbolic.
The repeated spirals and rhythmic arrangement of forms give the painting an almost musical quality, while the richly worked surface reveals the energy and physicality of Davie’s painting process.
A striking example of Davie’s unmistakable approach to abstraction, A Game of Spirals is a substantial work with exceptional visual presence.
Price: POA
Please contact the gallery for further information, condition details or to arrange a viewing.