Rowland Davidson

Rowland Davidson, D.A.,N.D.D.,A.T.D.,was born in Belfast in 1942.
He studied Fine Art at Belfast College of Art, and had among his tutors John Luke and Tom Carr.
In 1968, he graduated and spent several years teaching Art and Design at a Belfast boys' school, where he became Head of Dept. in 1975. In 1982, he began to paint seriously again and in 1987 gave up teaching in order to pursue his art more fully, becoming one of Ireland's best known figurative painters.
His work is always characterised by skilled draughtmanship, warmth and softness of brushstroke with a sensitive portrayal of subject depth of contrast. The early work was mainly landscape, developing into the portrayal of a variety of subjects; people at work, fairs and markets, children at play, traditional musicians and dancers.

Davidson's painting, inspired by artists such as Rembrandt, Degas, Van Gogh, Auerbach and Kokoschka, is figurative, often showing domestic interiors but always demonstrating a love of light.