Valley Girl Views: Artist Hubert Davis, Native Of Milton Pa

Spring In The Coal Region
by Hubert Davis, 1902-1981

Hubert Gray Davis was born March 15th 1902, the son of Edmund & Susan [Barnitz] Davis of Milton, Pennsylvania. Hubert studied at the Art Students League of New York in the 1920s. Davis went on to produce work for the WPA, illustrate at least one book, produce numerous illustrations for magazines and newspapers; and write original plays, for which he also designed the costumes.

He wrote a play, and exhibited artwork, at the 1956 Bicentennial of Fort Augusta in Sunbury PA.

Davis and his wife moved to New York, but spent much time at the Davis Family Homestead, a stone home built by Huberts great great grandfather Philip Davis, in Washingtonville Pa.

Huberts work is in several museums, including the MET & Smithsonian, and after his death, hundreds more of his works were found in a one room school house in New Tripoli that he had used as a studio.

Here's a look at just some of the work of Hubert Davis:

An American Tragedy By Theodore Dreiser

Illustrated by Hubert Davis

"One of the highlights of this artist's career remains his symbolic drawings for "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. These remarkable black-and-whites, 20 commentaries on Clyde Griffiths and his life cycle, are now choice collectors' items. Published by the British firm of Horace Liverright, the edition was limited to 523 numbered copies, signed by both artist and author.."

Seaboard Castles

"His works—depictions of landscapes and figure studies executed on oil on canvas and water colour—were first exhibited in 1925. The earliest and most renowned of Davis's lithographic pieces were produced in 1931: a medium he devoted himself to, some of Davis's best known lithographs include Costume Designs, Seaboard Castle, and Pier 50, North River."

Costume Design, by Hubert Davis

"He says this with sadness rather than despair, for he can go from oils and watercolors to lithography, etching or illustrating with equal versatility and equal success. In fact, says Davis, he prefers to take a vacation from one media in order to gain perspective in another. Like most name artists, ha has never traveled the long straight line. While in Paris, for instance, he did costumes for the Casino de Paris ... "How I got the Job I don't know." . - The Morning Call, December 1957

One of the more unique pieces by Hubert Davis.

Pier 50, North River

"Pier 50, North River is an unforgettable work of Depression era art. Almost mannerist in design, despair and loneliness are mirrored in almost every element. The dart waters and shadows, the giant, inactive ships in the foreground and background, the old man sitting in quiet resignation, and finally, the great dismantled remains of the ship in which some boys use as a ready made diving board strike haunting notes."

Canal By Moonlight, Hubert Davis

In May of 1950, "Prints [mostly lithographs) by Hubert Davis shown... in the graphic arts division's little gallery at the Smithsonian Building convey the impression that this artist observes life shrewdly, and also sardonically. His expressive line enables to say what he pleases about everything, but not everything pleases him. Man, his habitations and activities bring out the beast in Mr. Davis, whereas confronted by nature he becomes a tender romanticist. Canal By Moonlight, Trees At Twilight, and Sleeping Fawn, for instance, are tonal poems, with velvety blacks and shimmering lights." - The Evening Star

A 1930s painting by Davis, for the Works Progress Administration.

On Wall Street, 1929

An article in the Daily Item labels this same photo"

"Hubert Davis Painting In Milton Studio"

[I haven't yet looked for where his studio in Milton was located]

Oil by Huber Davis

Davis with two of the paintings he did in Jim Thorpe [Mauch Chunk] Pa.

[Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954. Thorpe never stepped foot in the town while alive, but is buried there]

Ron De Long Standing with Davis' Miner In a Lanscape

On display at The De Long Gallery at Penn State Lehigh Valley

Miners Commonwealth, by Hubert Davis

Farm Boy, By Hubert Davis

Bootleg Miner, by Herbert Davis

Artist Hubert Davis, "Of Milton and New York" exhibiting his Scenes Of The North Branch at the Fort Augusta Bicentennial in Sunbury, 1956.

In 1957, Davis opened a studio in the old Jacksonville School house near New Tripoli Pa.

Hollyhocks, by Herbert Davis

October 1961

Spring In The Coal Regions, at the Philadelphia Academy Of The Fine Arts

Ronald Delong discovered "hundreds and hundreds" of Davis works in a one room school house in New Tripoli. He moved them to his studio near Schnecksville, where he began cleaning up the works and offering them for sale. 25 years later, in 2017, he held three separate exhibitions showcasing some of Davis many works.

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MORE ABOUT HUBERT DAVIS

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Hubert Gray Davis, age 22 in 1924

259 Broadway, Milton Pa

In 1924, Davis, age 22, applied for a passport, giving his address as 259 Broadway, Milton Pa. His stated intention was to tour France, England, Italy, Austria, & Germany, to study. In 1926, he married Maxine Shipman.

Edmund Davis, Huberts father, was a native of Milton, the son of David and Mirabella Davis. Edmund was one of the organizers of Milton Trust and Safe Deposit Co. He had been a star pitcher at Princeton, and he graduated from law school before going into the hardware business, and then insurance business, in Milton.

The Davis family homestead was across the county line in Washingtonville, Montour County. The stone homestead was built by Philip Davis, great grandfather of Hubert.

Philip Davis, great grandfather, of Hubert Davis, donated the land and built the first Chillisquaque church, which was burned by the Indians. He and other Davises are buried in the Chillisquaque cemetery. Maria Bellas, Mr. Davis s grandmother, came from Sunbury, as did other of his relatives. "

He served in World War II from 1942-1943

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"Hubert Davis studied with the renowned painters Fernand Léger in Paris and Thomas Hart Benton in New York. His work was widely exhibited in his own time, and he associated with artists such as Reginald Marsh and Edward Hopper. Davis illustrated his friend Theodore Dreiser’s book An American Tragedy; he also produced numerous illustrations for magazines and newspapers; and he wrote original plays for which he designed the costumes. Although he used color in a bold and expressive way in his oil paintings, the prints Davis created for the WPA were often sober or even melancholic." From the Brooklyn College Library Art Collection

The Biography on many public art and auction sites showcasing his art reads:

"Hubert Davis was an American lithographic artist and painter during the Great Depression. Born in Milton, Pennsylvania, Davis studied at the Art Students League in New York during the 1920s. He issued his first lithograph in 1931 which primarily depicted landscapes and figures. Davis’ lithographs were published by the New York branch of the W.P.A. - Works Progress Administration which was a federal program that provided financial aid for thousands of artists in exchange for public works. Little is known of his life and/or work following the 1930s. "

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"Hubert Davis, contemporary American artist and a native of Milton, will stage a one-man show in the Masonic Temple, Market Square, throughout the Fort Augusta Bicentennial. An extensive collection of his painting will be hung over the week-end..."

Born in Milton March 15. 1902. Mr. Davis has conducted one-man shows in New York City (eleven); Princeton, N., J., Newark, N. J., Trenton, N.J., Omaha, Neb., Lewistown, Mansfield, Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, National Museum, Smithsonian. Institute, Washington, D.C. also two shows in Guatemala, . Paris, France, and at the U.S. Information Service in Athens Greece.

He has also done art work for magazines and newspapers. His illustrations have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Tone and Country, Tomorrow, Harpers Bazaar, etc. he likewise has done stage and screen work both here and abroad.

References and critical comment on his art and activities may be seen in the files and libraries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Frick Art Reference Library; New York Public Library; Art News; The Art Digest; Pictures on Exhibition; The New .York Times art pages and Book Review section. He is represented in permanent collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Columbus. O. Gallery of Fine Arts; Newark, N.J. Public Library and the Library of Congress.

References in books include: My Life with Dreiser by Helen Dreiser (World); The Provincetown, by H. Deutsch and Stella Hanau (Farrar and Rhinehart); Fine Prints by Carl Zigrosser (Crown), and Pen and Ink Drawings by Frank Hoar (Studio Publications, London.)

Mr. Davis biographical data appears in International Who Who in America; World Biography; Whos Who in the East: Who's Who in New York and Who's Who in American Art

He is author of the Symbolid Drawings of Hubert Davis for An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (Horace Liveright, limited edition, 1930.) He is a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists.

Mr. Davis has received the following awards: Lambert Purchase Prizes, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Denver Printmakers, honorable mention; Philadelphia Print Club, competition award; the Print Club of Rochester, N.Y, 150th annual exhibit, honorable mention.

He studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia, .the Art Students League of New York and the Academic Julien in Paris.

Mr. Davis and his gracious wife have a permanent home in New York City but spend much of their time at the Davis family farmstead near Washingtonville, just over the Northumberland County line, in Montour County.

Land was deeded to ancestors of Hubert Davis by John Penn Jr. and John Penn, Esquire in the 18th century.

Since the "Manor of Pomfret" was then in Northumberland County, this was recorded in Sunbury. Th "Hope" tract, as it was known, is now in Limestone Township, Montour County.

The earliest settlers fled to Fort Augusta for protection when the Indians destroyed by fire the first log cabin home. Later, a temporary frame house was built to replace the log cabin. On the same sate in 1809 Philip Davis began work on the present stone dwelling which took two years in the building. It is constructed of limestone quarried on the property. The woods used came from the virgin forests of the original tract of over a thousand acres. Experts consider the house comparable in architectural perfection and proportion to Monticello and Mount Vernon.

Philip Davis, great grandfather, of Hubert Davis, donated the land and built the first Chillisquaque church, which was burned by the Indians.

He and other Davises are buried in the Chillisquaque cemetery. Maria Bellas, Mr. Davis s grandmother, came from Sunbury, as did other of his relatives. "

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