# Gene Bernard Davis artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/gene-bernard-davis/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T17:05:00.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1920-08-22 - Death date: 1985-04-06 - Nationality: American - Movements: Color Field painting, Washington Color School - Common media: Acrylic paint on canvas, Works on paper, Prints and screenprints ## About Gene Bernard Davis Gene Davis (1920–1985) was an American painter recognized as a leading figure in the Color Field movement and the Washington Color School. Born and based in Washington, D.C., he became best known for canvases composed of vertical stripes of vivid, rhythmic color. Though largely self-taught as a visual artist—his early career was in journalism—Davis developed a distinctive approach that emphasized optical vibration and the perceptual relationships between adjacent hues. His work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London. Over a career spanning three decades, Davis explored seriality, scale, and the expressive possibilities of pure color, producing both intimate paintings and large-scale public installations. Collectors encounter his work most often at Post-War and Contemporary Art sales. ## Common works and media Davis is most associated with acrylic stripe paintings on canvas, ranging from small-scale works to mural-sized compositions. He also produced watercolors, drawings, screenprints, and lithographs. Subjects are almost entirely abstract, built from vertical bands of color. Some late works expanded into multi-panel formats and public commissions. In appraisal contexts, collectors are most likely to encounter original paintings on canvas, signed prints from documented editions, and works on paper. ## Market and appraisal context Gene Davis has a deep and liquid secondary market. Appraisily auction records index 749 lots with 618 carrying realized prices, spanning February 2002 through April 2026. Fifty-four priced lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window, essentially flat versus the prior 12 months (53 lots), indicating stable and ongoing demand. Price dispersion is wide: the interquartile range runs from $470 to $3,120, with a median of $900 and a recorded maximum of $151,200. This spread reflects the sharp medium and scale divide within Davis's output—editioned lithographs and screenprints dominate the lower half of the distribution, while unique acrylic-on-canvas paintings from the 1960s and 1970s regularly achieve five-figure results and occasionally six figures at major houses. Top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Hindman appear alongside specialist regional firms such as Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Weschler's, Potomack Company, and Rago Arts and Auction Center, confirming broad catalog placement across Post-War & Contemporary Art, American Art, and Prints & Multiples sales. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Gene Davis has a deep and liquid secondary market. Appraisily auction records index 749 lots with 618 carrying realized prices, spanning February 2002 through April 2026. Fifty-four priced lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window, essentially flat versus the prior 12 months (53 lots), indicating stable and ongoing demand. Price dispersion is wide: the interquartile range runs from $470 to $3,120, with a median of $900 and a recorded maximum of $151,200. This spread reflects the sharp medium and scale divide within Davis's output—editioned lithographs and screenprints dominate the lower half of the distribution, while unique acrylic-on-canvas paintings from the 1960s and 1970s regularly achieve five-figure results and occasionally six figures at major houses. Top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Hindman appear alongside specialist regional firms such as Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Weschler's, Potomack Company, and Rago Arts and Auction Center, confirming broad catalog placement across Post-War & Contemporary Art, American Art, and Prints & Multiples sales. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would combine these auction records with physical inspection details—photos of the work front and back, measured dimensions, identification of medium (acrylic on canvas, lithograph, screenprint, mixed media on board), signature and edition markings, and a condition report—to establish a defensible value range. For unique paintings, comparable lots at the same medium, scale, and period would be weighted most heavily; the recent $32,500 'Honey Gun' linear painting at Hill Auction Gallery (Feb 2026), the $9,000 'Night Sounds' at Los Angeles Modern Auctions (Apr 2026), and the $5,000 screenprints-on-canvas pair at DuMouchelles (Jan 2025) provide useful benchmarks for works of similar character. For prints, edition size, plate vs. sheet dimensions, and paper type (e.g., Arches) are material, and the clustered RoGallery lithograph results ($350–$850) provide a tight comparable band. Provenance documentation, exhibition history, and publication references would further refine the appraisal opinion. ### Valuation factors - Medium is the single strongest price driver: unique acrylic-on-canvas paintings from the 1960s–1970s typically achieve $5,000–$30,000+, while editioned lithographs and screenprints cluster in the $350–$900 range. - Scale matters—mural-sized canvases command premiums over small-format works. Mixed-media works on board from the 1950s (pre-stripe period) trade in the $2,750–$4,400 band. - Period: works from Davis's peak Color Field years (mid-1960s through mid-1970s) attract the strongest collector and institutional interest. - Condition, provenance, and exhibition history affect value, particularly for paintings where museum exhibition records or catalogue raisonné references add premium. - Print edition details—edition size, whether signed and numbered, paper type—materially affect print valuations. The RoGallery recurring lithograph results show consistent pricing for standard editions. - Attribution must be confirmed, as several artists share the name Gene Davis in auction databases. ### Collector notes - Liquidity is strong: 54 lots sold in the past 12 months across more than ten auction houses, meaning collectors can expect reasonable resale access for most medium types. - Entry-point collectors can acquire signed lithographs for $400–$900 at houses like RoGallery and STAIR, making Davis prints one of the more affordable entry points into Washington Color School material. - For paintings, expect to compete at houses such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, and regional specialists like Weschler's and Potomack Company. Recent painting results range from roughly $4,400 for smaller or earlier works to $32,500 for prime-period stripe canvases. - Some recent results are in CAD at Waddington's (Toronto); convert to USD for comparison. The $20,000 CAD 'Wash Day' (1970) sale in November 2025 equates to roughly $14,000 USD. - Beware attribution confusion—always verify that a catalogued 'Gene Davis' lot matches the Washington Color School painter (1920–1985) and not another artist of the same name. ### Market caveats - The price distribution reflects mixed mediums: the $45 minimum likely corresponds to an unframed print or miniature, while the $151,200 maximum likely represents a large-scale prime-period painting at a major house. Median and quartile figures should be interpreted in that context rather than applied to any single work. - Some recent lots are priced in CAD; direct comparison with USD results requires currency conversion. - A few recent lots show null priceRealised values (e.g., Black Watch III at RoGallery, Yankee Doodle at Waddington's), indicating either unsold lots or results not yet reported. These are excluded from the priced-lot count but should be investigated when evaluating specific comparables. - The existing profile notes that the middle name 'Bernard' in the displayName does not appear in any collected authority source; it may originate from a secondary database or auction-house record not in the source pack. Attribution checks should account for this discrepancy. - Davis's large body of prints means auction databases may include a high proportion of editioned works, which can skew median and quartile figures downward relative to the painting market. ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/gene-bernard-davis/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-gene-davis-1920-1985-honey-gun-80-liniar-painting-59-c-dbe82f8a27 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. This page draws on authority files (VIAF, RKD, Wikidata) and museum collection records from MoMA and Tate to establish identity and context. ## Sources - RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/20221 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/1407 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gene-davis-981 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/91317421/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5531163 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Davis_(painter)