GEORGE DAVIDSON (1889-1965)

    George Davidson, originally born in Poland, was an artist active in the first part of the 20th century. He began his art studies in the Waterbury, CT area then followed that up by studying at the National Academy of Design from 1909 to 1912, then at the American Academy of Rome from 1913 to 1916. It was about this time he met fellow student artist Eugene Francis Savage at the American Academy of Rome with whom he would be life long friends with, partners on several murals, travelling companions and fellow teachers of painting at Yale University. After serving in the American Red Cross during World War One, Davidson returned home to teach painting at the Cooper Union in New York City and Yale University in New Haven, CT. Besides teaching art and painting his own canvases, Davidson received many Works Progress Administration type of mural commissions including the Buffalo Savings Bank, the world headquarters of International Telephone & Telegraph, Columbia University, all in New York, the New York's World Fair of 1939-1940, Sterling Library Law School at Yale University, New Haven, CT; Mount Royal Hotel, Montreal, Canada; Mitsui Bank, Tokyo; Texas Hall of State Building, now the Dallas Historical Society; The Governors waiting room in the Tennessee State Capitol; the Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College, New London, CT; and the Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT. In 1961 Davidson co-produced a mosaic with Eugene Savage titled, "Jurisprudence," for the Queens County Courthouse in New York. When Davidson died he was an Associate member of the National Academy of Design in New York, NY. His work can be found in the Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT, and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Nebraska, in Lincoln, NE.