Francis Davison

Illustrated throughout and with an empathetic text by Andrew Lambirth, this is a timely appraisal of a leading exponent of the abstract collage whose work should be more widely known. This is the first major study of the life and art of London-born painter and collagist Francis Davison (1919-1984). After reading English and Anthropology at Cambridge, he wrote poetry, and took up drawing in 1946. After his marriage to Margaret Mellis in 1948, he also worked in paint and collage, the couple settled in Suffolk in the United Kingdom, where they ran a smallholding at Syleham before moving to Southwold. By the early 1950s Davison’s paintings became simplified shapes, and it was long before he worked exclusively in collage. Over the next 20 years reference to landscape disappeared and the color range was extended. Davison relied entirely on found, used and unpainted papers, which were cut and fitted with great exactitude. A very private man, Davison shunned publicity and insisted that only the most basic information should accompany the showing of his work. Reflecting this, he never received the recognition his work deserved and there was only one significant exhibition during his lifetime - at the Hayward Gallery, London, in 1983 - but critical attention has grown since his death in the mid-1980s. Davison’s work was greatly admired by Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton and other contemporaries. He is now seen as a major collagist, with exhibitions at many public and commercial galleries.