Bessie Davidson (1879-1965)

Born in Adelaide, Bessie Davidson was one of many young Australian artists in the early 20th century who travelled to Europe to further her studies and one of the relatively few who chose to return to live there permanently. On her first trip, from 1904-06, she took lessons at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Montparnasse, made friends in the art establishment and experienced in those two defining years the full gamut of French art from Beaux-Arts academicism to the famous Salon d’Automne of 1905 when Fauvism burst upon the scene.  She returned to Paris in 1910, found a studio in Montparnasse and lived there for the rest of her life. Despite a conservative appearance and a rather private nature, she was in fact highly romantic in temperament, brave, loyal and with a gift for friendship. While never relinquishing her British nationality, she adored France, serving with the French Red Cross as a volunteer nurse during WWI and in WWII choosing to remain despite considerable personal danger. Until the early 1920s Davidson painted mainly in tempera, usually figures in interiors as well as some portraits and still lifes in clear, fine and delicately handled tones, exhibiting regularly in the Salons and gaining enthusiastic reviews from the critics who praised the subtlety of her handling of colour and her 'generous, spontaneous and beautifully painted works'. In the mid-1920s she discovered oils and her style changed dramatically to a much more vigorous, post-impressionist manner which revealed visually the underlying influence of Cézanne that she had long nourished. Now she painted many landscapes, seeking out dramatic sea or mountain scenery in both France and Scotland, the land of her forebears to which she felt a special bond.  In addition to the Salons, Davidson exhibited in many group shows throughout France and in Britain and America, and had a number of solo exhibitions in France. She was active in the art world of Paris, particularly in promoting the cause of women artists, and received a number of awards including the Legion of Honour for her services to art and to France in WWI.  Her works are held in public collections in Australia, France, Scotland and the Netherlands and in many private collections around the world.

PL 2005

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