Back to Alan Davie /
Lover's Dream Boat No.17
Item Code: AD-74807-sv
Oil
Date of Work
1974
Signed
Signed verso
Height (cm)
122
Width (cm)
152.5
Signed, dated and titled Verso.
By the early 1970s, when Lovers’ Dreamboat was produced, Davie had developed a powerful symbolic vocabulary. His fascination with symbols derived from their universality, the idea that pictograms and iconographies had been shared between different peoples over many thousands of years.
Relocated in Davie’s work, these same icons found new personal resonances. Dreamboat‘s Coloured flags – bold geometric forms in their own right – invoke semaphore signs and Tibetan prayer flags (Davie was both a sailor and a Buddhist). To their left stand two sculptural totems, inspired perhaps by the carvings from Davie’s own collection of African and Oceanic art. Other elements seem almost psychoanalytic: a crescent moon floats above, a key visual figure within the Surrealist idiom; behind lie the open window and door, suggestions of a room that leads only to otherworldly blackness.
By the early 1970s, when Lovers’ Dreamboat was produced, Davie had developed a powerful symbolic vocabulary. His fascination with symbols derived from their universality, the idea that pictograms and iconographies had been shared between different peoples over many thousands of years.
Relocated in Davie’s work, these same icons found new personal resonances. Dreamboat‘s Coloured flags – bold geometric forms in their own right – invoke semaphore signs and Tibetan prayer flags (Davie was both a sailor and a Buddhist). To their left stand two sculptural totems, inspired perhaps by the carvings from Davie’s own collection of African and Oceanic art. Other elements seem almost psychoanalytic: a crescent moon floats above, a key visual figure within the Surrealist idiom; behind lie the open window and door, suggestions of a room that leads only to otherworldly blackness.
Alan Davie was born in Grangemouth in 1920. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art, working initially as a jazz musician. Influenced by Klee and Picasso, he developed an ornamental style, illustrating his preoccupations with Zen Buddhism, Indian mythology and magic. Declaring that the spiritual path is incompatible with planning ahead, he has attempted to paint as automatically as possible.From 1953 to 1956 Davie taught in London at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where he became interested in African and Pacific art. As early as 1958 Davie emphasised the importance in his work of intuition, as expressed in the form of enigmatic symbols. These symbols have combined to make him one of the most potent image-makers in post-war British art. Davie died in 2014.
We deliver art everyday, safely and securely, worldwide and for free in the UK.
Unless specified, your art will come framed, ready for the wall, at no extra cost.
If, for any reason, you are not happy with your purchase please contact us to arrange return and refund.
Unless specified, your art will come framed, ready for the wall, at no extra cost.
If, for any reason, you are not happy with your purchase please contact us to arrange return and refund.
Goldmark Gallery
14 Orange Street, Uppingham
Rutland, LE15 9SQ, UK
+44 (0) 1572 821424
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mon-Sat: 9.30am - 5.30pm
Sunday: 11.00am - 4.00pm
The gallery is open again to visitors. We continue to make regular weekly broadcasts on goldmark.tv where you can catch up on the latest news from the gallery. You can buy from us online or contact us by email or telephone. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
14 Orange Street, Uppingham
Rutland, LE15 9SQ, UK
+44 (0) 1572 821424
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mon-Sat: 9.30am - 5.30pm
Sunday: 11.00am - 4.00pm
The gallery is open again to visitors. We continue to make regular weekly broadcasts on goldmark.tv where you can catch up on the latest news from the gallery. You can buy from us online or contact us by email or telephone. We look forward to hearing from you soon.