Collection: Gene Davis

Gene Davis (1920–1985) was an American abstract painter, a lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., and a central figure in the Washington Color School art movement. Before becoming a full-time artist later in life, Davis worked as a journalist, including a stint as a White House correspondent. He is best known for his signature canvases featuring vibrant, rhythmic vertical stripes of color, which he began painting around 1958. Along with artists like Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis, Davis explored Color Field painting, focusing on the expressive power of pure color applied often with thin acrylics on unprimed canvas, a style cemented by the influential 1965 exhibition The Washington Color Painters. Davis thought of his stripes as "color intervals," creating musical effects, and he encouraged viewers to concentrate on how a single color performed across the painting. His work ranged from tiny "micro-paintings" to massive public installations