Hits: 6509
Category: PAINTERS
Julian O. Davidson was an American artist and illustrator specializing in maritime and naval subjects, painted in formats ranging from periodical and children's book illustrations to mural-sized canvases. An adventurous spirit who loved the ocean, after receiving a boarding school education and a brief apprenticeship at his father's civil engineering firm, ...
... Davidson went off to sea at the age of 17 on the crew of a steamship sailing to the Mediterranean and Far East via the Suez Canal. He documented his travels in sketchbooks, and on returning to the U.S. studied art in New York with Mauritz F.H. de Haas, and was introduced to painters of the Hudson River School including Winslow Homer, Albert Bierstadt and Frederick Church. He forged his style from these artistic influences and his in-depth observation of the water.
Davidson was also a championship sculler and lived near the Hudson River in Nyack, New York. During the Civil War, his facility with marine scenes led to commissioned illustrations of naval battles for magazines such as Harper's and Century. Later, Davidson produced a series of major oils of naval battles from the War of 1812. His painting of The Battle of Lake Erie (1887), a large canvas over eight feet long, was displayed at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and is now on display at the Erie Art Museum in Pennsylvania. This popular image was reproduced on Pennsylvania license plates in the 1990s.
Davidson exhibited at the National Academy of Design from 1877 until his untimely death in 1894. His paintings are also in the collections of the Hudson River Museum, the New-York Historical Society, and other museums.
Julian Davidson
.Julian Davidson is a forgotten Hudson River Valley artist. Born in 1853, Davidson summered in Nyack as a young man. He met and married Cornelia Merritt whose prosperous NYC family also summered in Nyack. The Davidsons built a large three-story Victorian house with river views at 117 S. Broadway in South Nyack that still stands. Davidson died in his artistic prime at the age of 40, his wife following him in death the next year. His house and remaining works of art were auctioned off to the public in Nyack. His work is now widely scattered, and one small painting can be seen in the Nyack Library.
Davidson was a knowledgeable and skilled marine painter. He produced a number of major works depicting realistic sea battles from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the War of 1812. He painted and made etchings of many local Tappan Zee scenes that depict Hook Mountain and the Tarrytown Light.
In addition to being a painter, Davidson sold a number of etchings to Harper’s Weekly, then the premier American magazine. With his accurate eye for detail, he was hired by the Harper brothers to tour the southern states and produce a series of etchings.
Davidson was not just a painter. He was a sportsman who, along with his brother-in-law, founded the Nyack Rowing Association in 1880. Aside from being an expert oarsman who often competed in local races, Davidson helped obtain funds to build one of the premier Victorian Hudson River boathouses on the Nyack waterfront. As a skilled athlete, it’s no wonder that many of his etchings depict athletic competitions, from rowing to “foot-ball.”
Early college football
American football began as a rather vicious English college mob game that pitted one team against another with few rules. Sometimes one entire class played another class. The game was dangerous. In the 1870s, college games played under a changing set of rules that merged soccer and rugby. Walter Camp, who was at Yale when Davidson made his etching, defined the modern game. In the 1880s, he thought to limit each side to 11 players, he introduced downs rather than “scrums,” and created regular scoring rules. By 1900, Camp would further define the modern game by adding the forward pass.
“A game of foot-ball”
Davidson’s etching is of a game between Columbia and Harvard, as seen by the C and H markings on the goalposts and on some of the jerseys. A crowd can be seen behind the players. A set of referees stands behind the scrum. The shirtless player pitches the ball from the scrum in front of Columbia’s goal. It appears like Columbia is getting the worst of the action.
From: Nyack People & Places: A Historic Football Game's Nyack Connection - Nyack News & Views
- Julian Oliver Davidson - Wikimedia
- Nyack People & Places: A Historic Football Game’s Nyack Connection - Nyack News & Views
- View Julian Oliver Davidson art prices and auction results - Invaluable
- Julian O. Davidson | Biography - MutualArt
- Julian O. Davidson | 33 Artworks at Auction - MutualArt
- Davidson’s Masterpiece - Erie Maritime Museum