Untitled (Sketch for Larger More Realistic Painting)

"Even apart from his manifold activities as a curator and organizer, Davis was hard to pin down as a painter. His works in the medium have a disarming candor—artists like Fairfield Porter, Peter Doig, and Palmer Hayden are clear forebears—but elements of mystery or even magic often appear, interrupting any easy sense of familiarity. Straightforward narratives slip away... They suggest a kind of dream logic, or an overlaying of memory and fantasy."
—(A. Russeth, "Noah Davis, Influential Artist Who Died as His Star Was Rising, Comes Into Full View in New York," Surface, January 2020)