Winthrop Stark Davis (1885-1950)
Member of the 27 Chicago Designers.
Finding a picture of one of these colorful parrots by this wonderful artist was a big and happy surprise. I made an Internet excavation and here are the results. In three separate postings. I haven't found a book or site dedicated to his work so far. If there is, please don't hesitate sending me more examples or information. Most pictures are "left mouse clickable".
Winthrop Stark Davis was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1885. He subsequently lived and worked in Chicago, where he was affiliated with several arts institutions including the Palette and Chisel Club. Davis exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1924 and at the Chicago Galleries Association in 1930, winning prizes in both shows.
Most examples of his art (that I found) are executed in pastel showing colorful parrots, resembling and reminding stylish of the many parrots depicted by Austrian linocut artist Norbertine Bresslern Roth(1891-1978) and American painter Jessie Arms Botke (1883-1971). Examples of both artists earlier in the Linosaurus (use the search function).
During the 1920s and 1930s Stark Davis’s illustrations appeared on covers of the Ladies’ Home Journal, and in numerous advertisements, and from 1927 to 1929, Davis’s artistic and colorful “Bird Series” of ads for Lincoln automobiles ran in popular magazines such as Country Life and Home and Garden. Today I (part 1/3) show all his parrot prints, later this week I'll show prints of other animals (part 2/3) and his Lincoln advertising art (part 2/3) in separate postings. 
During his time in Chicago, Davis would make trips to Santa Barbara, California, and subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked at the Disney Animation Studios and exhibited at the Ainslie Gallery in 1936. 
By 1947, Davis had retired from painting and was living in Morro Bay, a seaside town on California’s Central Coast.
Biography from: Spencer Jon Helfen Fine Arts.
Following soon: Part 2/3: other animals by Stark Davis, Part 3/3: the Lincoln automobile ads.
I would like to get information on the painting of the black panther with the three parrots. Does anyone have any information?
ReplyDeleteI'ld like to emphasize this is NOT a public platform but a private Blog and although I usually deny anonymous and not personally adressed comments I hope you'll find an answer here soon.
ReplyDelete