Charles W. Davis Sold at Auction Prices

Charles Davis, Street Scene, Oil on canvas, 12" x 9"

Charles Davis Street Scene Oil on canvas c. 1948. Signed "Ch Davis 1948". Label on verso has the number "95", and the name, "Charles Davis" and the address: "127 Randolph Pl" (this is the address of the Barnett-Aden Gallery in Washington DC, and Davis exhibited there in the 1940s. It is unclear if the scene is Washington DC or Chicago). An easel painter for the WPA division of the Illinois Art Project, fine-art painter and print maker, Charles Davis was African American artist who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago with George Neal and at Hull House. He depicted people of the Bronzeville neighborhood where he lived and felt much sympathy for the residents. He was quoted: "These people and the whole neighborhood have something to say. I want to paint real people and real places." His work was exhibited at the Art Institute in 1938, 1940 and 1941. His painting, "Newsboy", in the collection of Howard University Gallery of Art, toured from December 1940 to January 1941 in an exhibition called "Art of the American Negro". The Library of Congress was the first venue. One of his murals is located in the Hall Library in Chicago. 12" x 9"