William M. Davis: Artist of Port Jefferson by Melville A. Kitchin
"Conscience Bay," oil on canvas, 7" x 12 718", courtesy Society for the Preservation of the Long Island Antiquities.
A Sound sloop , close-hauled on the port tack and reefed down to punch inlo a stiff south westerly, crosses the bow of a deep-laden schooner, close-reaching across the Sou nd. "A Close Shave," oil on canvas. Photo by Josh McClure, Island Color. Courtesy, Jim McNamara.
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From his long, fruitful life, William M. Davis has left us a priceless legacy in his views of Mount Sinai, Port Jefferson and Setauket during the second half of the 19th century. It was a world full of reflection and calm, quiet bays and coves, ships at anchor or at sea, and villagers pursuing their daily tasks. One feels the excitement of the Sharpie Race, the cold winter at Saint's Orchard, and the beauty of Port Jefferson Harbor before industrialization. The past lives in these pictures. Davis was born in Setauket in 1829, the son of James Davi s of Stony Brook (descendant of Phineas Davi s, one of its earliest settlers), and Catherine De Witt of Setauket. His early boyhood was spent with hi s grandmother and later in school in New York. Although he did not take kindly to books and study, he did show much interest in sketching. At 16 he signed on as a cabin boy aboard a sloop in the Sound. This seems to have been short li ved, as he soon entered the shipbuilding trade in Port Jefferson. He was apprenticed to William Darling, one of the most noted shipbuilders of the time. He completed his training with Edgar Brown and later went into business for him self. In the meantime, he was painting and drawing-it had always come naturally to him. He never took a lesson in art, but perfected his skill by studying the works of others and from a close study of nature. Davis was 19 when he married Caroline Peterson , 17 , of Danbury CT, in 1848. Their first child was a son, Arthur. Their second, a girl named Lucy, was born on July 15, 1852. Affectionately known as "Little Luttie," her death at age seven was a tragic blow to the young family. It is through Little Luttie that we have the first evidence of contact between William M. Davis and celebrated artist William Sidney Mount of the Hudson River School. Mount 's 186 1 oil "Little Luttie" is of Davis 's daughter, painted from memory just two years after her death. Through this painting and hi s memoirs, it is obvious that Mount was in close touch with Davi s and hi s family, and that he wanted to make this gesture of a memorial portrait. William Davi s was never Mount 's pupil , but we can see that Mount was giving him advice. Mount writes: "Mr. Davis says he works without varnish and dries his colors and uses but little oil and then varnishes his work a short time after it is finished. It used to be my method ." He also encouraged Davis to paint landscapes which, until that time, he had rarely attempted . Mount kept a ship model that Davis made for him in hi s studio as a tribute to their friendship . It was during thi s time 1862 that Davis was working on "The Neglected Picture" (which showed a photo of Jefferson Davis in a broken and sagging frame with memorabilia attached to it) his first painting to attract wide attention. Along with "Done Gone" (the tombstone of a Confederate soldier with his cap and other paraphernalia draped over it), the two created a sensation . Emotions ran high in the early days of the Civil War, and these pictures seemed to sum up the feelings of the general public. Newspaper reporters were inclined to use the word "genius" in reference to Davis at this stage. These pictures by Davis were a particular kind of painting that was new to the American scene. They contained editorial content and spelled out a political message. The Hudson River painters had not concerned themselves with political issues . Norman Wiard, the munitions contractor and close friend of President Lincoln, purchased "Done Gone" with the intention of giving it to him. Lincoln , however, asked if he could keep the painting in the White House for only a while. In 1869, Wiard gave the painting to General John A. Logan , Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, to be SEA HISTORY , SUMMER 1989