William R. Davis
'Jamestown, Rhode Island'

William R. Davis
'Twilight Sail'

William R. Davis
'Yachts Off Block Island'

William R. Davis
'Boston Harbor Tug'

William R. Davis
'Returning At Dusk'

William R. Davis
'Cutter Off Nantucket'

William R. Davis
'Yachting, Long Island'

William R. Davis was born 1950 in Somerville, Massachusetts. For the most part self-educated as a painter, Davis has combined natural artistic ability with a capacity for keen observation of art from the past, an interest in art history, and an art historian's instinct for ferreting out highly abstruse bits of information about past technique. The latter two skills have not only helped him as a painter, but have also made him - in a secondary but connected career - a highly successful dealer in nineteenth and early twentieth century American art. Davis's detailed knowledge of the work of the Hudson River Valley School and their Luminist successors has been of value to his own recent thought and work, and to the ongoing process, along with Joseph McGurl and Donald Demers, of defining New American Luminism.

Until recently, Davis has built his reputation primarily as a marine artist, specializing in highly detailed, beautifully finished small oils. These marine paintings have been widely exhibited along the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. He has been included in the latest edition of E.H.H. Archibald's authoritative volume on Marine Art from the Flemish masters to the present. As an author he has had an article published in American Artist magazine (July, 1991) He has also been the subject of articles in Cape Cod Life magazine (Fall, 1984); The Review magazine (Nov.-Dec., 1987), and other publications.

William R. Davis
'Yachting, Newport'

William R. Davis
'Yachting, New York'

William R. Davis
'Twilight Return'

William R. Davis
'Low Tide, Mt. Desert'

William R. Davis
'Fishing At Daybreak'

William R. Davis
'Fisherman At Sunset'

William R. Davis
'New York Harbor'

William R. Davis
'Nantucket Sound'