Featuring Gene Davis

Gene Davis was a major figure in twentieth-century American painting who helped establish Washington, D.C., as a center of contemporary art.

Davis also played a significant role in the color abstraction movement, an international trend that first achieved prominence in the 1960s.

Born in Washington, D.C., Davis attended local schools and later worked as a sportswriter and White House correspondent before pursuing a career in art. Although never formally trained, Davis educated himself through assiduous visits to New York's museums and galleries as well as to Washington's art institutions, especially the Phillips Collection. He also benefited from the guidance of his friend Jacob Kainen, an artist and art curator.

Source: Jacquelyn D. Serwer.Gene Davis: A Memorial Exhibition (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1987).

Pictured: Gene Davis, 1920–85, Raspberry Icicle, 1967, acrylic, 116 x 219 5/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.