Gerald Davis (1938 – 2005) was one of Ireland's leading semi-abstract artists.Portrait of Gerald Davis as an artist
Olivier Cornet Gallery. He was also an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

owner, critic, and

Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...

scholar. He was a prominent member of the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish community in Ireland.Artist and scholar Davis dies at 66
RTÉ News, 18 June 2005.Doyle, Rose, 23 June 2004

''Irish Times''. He wrote for Irish national newspapers and broadcast on radio and television, where he reported on the arts and Irish Jewish life.Gerald Davis at the Olivier Cornet Gallery.
Gerald Davis at the Kenny Gallery.
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Career

Davis' grandparents were

Lithuanian Jews Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas ...

. His grandfather came to Ireland in the 1880s. Davis was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1938, the only child of Sydney and Doris Davis. His family owned a business on

Capel Street Capel Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. On 20 May 2022, it was made traffic-free, following a campaign by people who wanted to improve the quality of life on the street. It is now the longest traffic-free street in Dublin. History Capel ...

. Davis had his first solo show in 1962. He had more than 150 solo exhibitions, and his work was also shown in major group exhibitions. His paintings are in many important public and private exhibitions. The

Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ga, An Chomhairle Ealaíon) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts." About It was established in 1951 by the Government of Ireland, to encour ...

awarded him with a Douglas Hyde Gold Medal for

historical painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

in 1977. In 1970 Davis opened his own art gallery in Capel Street, where he pioneered young Irish artists and craft-workers, several of whom went on to become Ireland's leading artists. The gallery showed new and established artists, ceramic, textiles, painting and sculpture.Madden, Bernadette
Gerald Davis
CIRCA Magazine. Well-known artists who had their early shows in the Davis Gallery include Charlie Harper,

John Kelly John or Jack Kelly may refer to: People Academics and scientists * John Kelly (engineer), Irish professor, former Registrar of University College Dublin *John Kelly (scholar) (1750–1809), at Douglas, Isle of Man *John Forrest Kelly (1859–1922) ...

Edward Delaney Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen's Green in Dublin and ...

, John Devlin, and Martin Gale.

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English as ...

opened the gallery's first exhibition, which showed drawings by Edward Delaney. In 1995 President

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

opened a twenty-fifth anniversary exhibition of work by 25 artists. In Dublin, Davis was well known for masquerading as

Leopold Bloom Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel ''Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's epic poe ...

, the main character of ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'', and leading

Bloomsday Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June, the day his 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' takes place in 1904, the date of his first sexual encounter with his ...

parades.Wilson, Jonathan, 13 June 2004
The Fading World Of Leopold Bloom
''The New York Times''. In 1977 Davis created an exhibition based on ''Ulysses'' called "Paintings for Bloomsday". The exhibition opened on Bloomsday, 16 June, in a gallery located on

Howth Head Howth Head ( ; ''Ceann Bhinn Éadair'' in Irish) is a peninsula northeast of the city of Dublin in Ireland, within the governance of Fingal County Council. Entry to the headland is at Sutton while the village of Howth and the harbour are on t ...

, the setting of the soliloquy that ends ''Ulysses''. Davis dressed as Leopold Bloom in an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

suit and

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

in order to publicise and celebrate the event. His appearance caught the attention of the media. After this, Davis appeared as Leopold Bloom at other Bloomsdays and at events in other countries.Gerald Davis
, Dyehouse Gallery. Davis was also a strong supporter of young musicians. He founded his own record company, LIVIA Records, in the late 1970s. He produced albums for many of the most distinguished Irish jazz musicians, poets, and actors. Davis lectured on

Irish art The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands today, County Meath. In early- Bronze Age Ireland there is evidence of Beaker cu ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

in Australia, Europe and the US, focusing on James Joyce and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

Death

Davis was diagnosed with

laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancers are mostly squamous-cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the epithelium of the larynx. Cancer can develop in any part of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumour. For the purposes of staging, ...

in 2003 and died in 2005.

References

External links

2004 interview with Gerald Davis in the ''Irish Times''.Gerald Davis' last solo exhibition.On hearing of the death of Gerald Davis
a poem by Fred Johnston in ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'', Summer 2006.
16-30 June 2016, 'Portrait of Gerald Davis as an artist', a special exhibition celebrating the work of the painter at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin.James Joyce Centre Dublin acquires Gerald Davis’s painting 'It’s Fireworks' through a generous donation from the artist’s family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Gerald 1938 births 2005 deaths Irish Jews Irish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 20th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Jewish painters Artists from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish male artists Burials at Dolphins Barn Jewish Cemetery