By Don Johnson CARMEL, Ind. — The first in a series of three auctions to sell material from the estate of prominent Indiana artist and art professor Harry Allen Davis (1914-2006) will be held Saturday, Sept. 13, by Wickliff Auctioneers. Hundreds of paintings, drawings and sketches directly from the family will be made available in those sales. Davis spent 37 years as a professor of drawing and painting at Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, impacting the careers of numerous artists. He brought to the institution what the auction house described as “a rare combination of technical ability and teaching skills.” Two distinct styles characterize Davis’s work. His early paintings, from the 1930s through the 1960s, tend to be folksy, Americana scenes of people in various activities, such as bathers on a beach or a couple carrying items purchased at an auction in a stark rural setting. He later focused on refined architectural paintings, particularly buildings of historical significance. “In the ’70s, he started seeing the need to preserve some of these images of historic properties,” said Darin Lawson, president of Wickliff Auctioneers. Neglect and urban sprawl contributed to the decay and razing of some of the landmarks that attracted the artist’s attention. The majority of Davis’ works portrayed Indiana subjects, as he stayed true to his roots. Born in Hillsboro, Ind., he moved with his family to Brownsburg, Ind., in 1920, where he graduated from high school. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in fine arts from Herron in 1938. Also that year, his painting Harvest Dinner, depicting a rural Indiana family gathering, won the coveted Prix de Rome. The award entitled him to study for four years at the American Academy in Rome. That scholarship, however, was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, leading him to sail back to the United States to conclude his training in New York City. Returning to the Midwest, Davis was Artist in Residence at Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he taught and painted in 1941. America was drawn into World War II, and he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. Over the next five years, Davis designed camouflage in North Africa and was a combat artist with the Fifth Army Historical Unit in Italy. His work from that time became the property of the War Department. “He was considered a combat artist, not just a combat sketcher,” Lawson noted. Photos of his work show large, detailed paintings. What became of the art kept by the U.S. government is largely unknown. After the war, Davis began teaching at Herron in 1946, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1983. He is still honored at the school through the Herron Alumni Association, which annually presents the Harry A. Davis Faculty Award to an instructor who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to Herron students. Davis excelled in art competitions throughout his career. He is one of the most awarded artists in the history of the Hoosier Salon, considered Indiana’s most historic and visible annual art exhibition. In addition to the other public, juried shows in which Davis participated, he held more than 60 one-man shows at museums, galleries and public institutions in Indiana. More than 70 paintings from the Davis estate will be featured in the September auction. Also offered will be works by other historic Indiana artists, including Theodore Clement Steele (1847-1926). “Harry’s work as an artist and teacher in Indiana puts him in the same category as other historic Indiana painters who elevated the level of art and art appreciation in our state, and it’s appropriate to put his paintings alongside those of artists like Steele, whose paintings are still highly-desired among collectors,” Lawson noted in a news release. The sale also will include numerous paintings by Davis’s wife, Lois, an accomplished artist who taught painting at the Indianapolis Art League for nearly 30 years. Mrs. Davis, 91, now conducts art classes at her senior living community. She is scheduled to attend a gallery preview, with a reception in her honor from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. The event is open to the public beginning at 2 p.m. The Disco Mountain Boys, a five-piece, bluegrass/folk acoustic band led by renowned Indiana artist C.W. Mundy, will perform from 5 to 7 p.m. Between 300 and 400 pieces of art from the Davis estate will be sold in the three auctions, with the other two sales planned for October and November. Lawson believes several works have the potential to eclipse the current auction record of $12,100 for a picnic scene sold in 2006. Wickliff Auctioneers has been selling fine art, decorative arts and antiques since 1991. The auction gallery is located at 12232 Hancock St., Carmel, Ind. For more information, phone (317) 844-7253 or visit www.wickliffauctioneers.com |