Gordon Davies
The Ultimate Referee
Oil on canvas, signed and dated '72 upper left
Image size: 6 7/8 x 6 inches (17.5 x 15.2 cm)
Handmade contemporary frame
This eerie work depicts a skull with an honours' cap sat atop a 1972 choir programme from Canterbury Cathedral. This fascinating still life is instantly reminiscent of thevanitaspaintings during the Baroque period, due to the prominent presence of a skull. Despite this sombre atmosphere, the title of the work -The Ultimate Referee- displays an element of satire and the artist's fierce of sense of humour. The work is exceptionally detailed, with attention paid especially to the shadows of the skull and the folds of fabric in the honours' cap.
Gordon Davies (1926 – 2007)
Born in London in 1926, Davies served in the army during World War II in the Highland Light Infantry before studying art at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1948 and the Royal College of Art 1950-53. He taught drawing part-time at Canterbury College of Art and regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy following his time at the Royal Collage of Art, as well as solo shows across a number of British galleries, including a retrospective at the Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury in 1990.
Davies’ artistic talents were not limited to painting. He was also a distinguished designer for Sanderson’s wallpapers, a muralist, an illustrator for Profile Publications, a cartoonist for The Eagle and ceramicist.
