Homeward Bound

Charles Harold Davis was born in Amesbury, MA in 1856. He was particularly known for his landscape paintings. Davis studied at the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston under Otto Grundmann. In 1881, Davis went to Paris for further study and remained there for nearly a decade. During his years in France, the artist studied at the Academie Julian and painted landscapes of the French countryside, particularly Fontainebleau and Normandy. While in France, Davis exhibited at the Paris Salon and the Paris Exposition, receiving recognition at both venues. Meanwhile, he enhanced his reputation in the United States by sending works home for exhibition in New York and Boston. Davis returned to the United States in 1890 and settled in Mystic, CT, where he lived for the rest of his career. In Connecticut, the artist's landscapes became lighter and more experimental, shifting from Barbizon to a more Impressionist style. Around 1895, Davis's thematic focus became the sky, specifically cloudscapes for which he would eventually become very well-known. A leading figure of the Mystic Art Colony, Davis also founded the Mystic Art Association in 1913. Other artist’s who followed Davis to Mystic included David Walkley and John Joseph Enneking. A successful painter who received much critical acclaim during his lifetime, Davis had one-man shows at William Macbeth’s Gallery in New York and at Doll and Richards in Boston, and his works were exhibited around the country in major national and international exhibitions of the period.