Image of Crazy Gondolier by Alan Davie. Courtesy Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. © The Artist
National Museum Wales has received an early Christmas present, acquiring Crazy Gondolier (1960) a bright jubilant painting by Alan Davie thanks to generous support from the Derek Williams Trust and The Art Fund.
The work will be featured at National Museum Cardiff’s popular The Sight of Sound exhibition that features works of art inspired by music and vice versa, which will remain open until January 3 2010.
Music is a theme, which is often reflected in Davie’s work. He was a jazz musician and the spontaneous energy of his abstract paintings such as Crazy Gondolier are often compared to free form music.
Bryony Dawkes, Curator of The Sight of Sound exhibition has chosen Sun Ra performing Velvet as a track to complement Crazy Gondolier.
"Crazy Gondolier is not a direct response to a specific musical work but is musical in its feeling," she said. "This performance of Velvet suited the work for a number of reasons – date, style, feeling and the profound spiritual approach to creativity of both Davie and Sun Ra."
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales already has a number of works on paper by Davie, but this is the first painting by the artist to enter its collections, and is from a particularly vibrant period of the artist’s career.
"This lively work sums up Davie’s exuberant style, and will look even more fantastic when set to music," Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art Fund
"We’re delighted that Crazy Gondolier is on show in Cardiff and that it is now part of Wales’ permanent collections, meaning that future generations will enjoy the work of this important British artist."
Davie was born in Scotland in 1919 and trained at Edinburgh College of Art. Awarded a travel scholarship in 1941, he took inspiration from the works of Picasso, Henry Moore and Marc Chagall during his time in Europe and went on to develop his own signature style.
