David Davies, who is best known for his romantic moonlit landscapes, was born in West Ballarat, the son of a Welsh miner, Thomas Davies, and his wife Mary Harris. After attending the local state schools he took art classes from J.F. Martell and Thomas Price at the Ballarat School of Mines and Industries. In 1886 he left Ballarat for Melbourne, where he enrolled in classes at the National Gallery School, under George Folingsby and Frederick McCubbin. In November 1888 he was awarded the student landscape prize with A Hot Day. In 1890, after Ballarat Fine Art Gallery bought Under the Burden and Heat of Day, he travelled to Paris where he enrolled in classes at the Academie Julian. Fellow students included the Australian, Aby Altson.
On 18 December 1891 he married a fellow art student from Melbourne, Janet Sophia Davies, who was studying at Colarossi’s atelier. The successful Australian painter, Rupert Bunny, was one of the witnesses to the wedding.
Soon after the couple travelled to the artists’ colony of St Ives in Cornwall, and based themselves there. Davies’ work responded to the softly romantic impressionist vision of the English artists.
They returned to Australia in 1893, and settled at Templestowe where he painted landscapes of dusk or night light, usually lit by moonlight. His work was well appreciated: _Moonrise _of 1894 was purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria. In 1897 the family returned to Europe,settling at first in Cornwall, then later in Wales.
In 1908 the family settled at Dieppe in France, where Davies painted while Janet taught English. They were based in France for some years, but Davies continued to exhibit in England, and returned often to visit his friend and patron Richard Heyworth. They did move to London on the outbreak of World War I, but later returned to Dieppe as he found his subject matter in the landscape of rural France.
In May 1926 the Fine Art Society’Gallery Melbourne held a major exhibition of Davies’ European works. It was his only major Australian exhibition.
He returned to Cornwall in 1932, and died at Looe of congestive heart failure on 26 March 1939. Janet Davies died of pneumonia five days later.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1999
- Last updated:
- 2011
