Floyd MacMillan Davis
Encyclopedia
Floyd MacMillan Davis was an American painter
and illustrator
known for his work in advertising
and illustration
; Walter and Roger Reed described him as "someone who could capture the rich, beautiful people of the 1920s: dashing, mustachioed men; the cool, svelte women. But Davis was just as capable at capturing just-plain-folk, and with a cartoonist's sensibilities and a fresh humor, he expanded into story art and ad work that called characters of every persuasion.
By the early 40’s was recognized as the top man in both fields. In 1943, Life Magazine called him the #1 Illustrator in America.
. His ancestors were Scottish
and Welsh
. Floyd never had the benefit of art school instruction because he was forced by circumstance to quit high school at the end of his first year, after which, he got a job in a lithograph house in Chicago
. For $3.00 a week he made tusche and did every kind of manual work entrusted to an apprentice. He was brought into contact with art and was given some opportunity to develop his own drawing skill. His first real art job was with Meyer Both & Co., the well-known Chicago
Art Service.
His art career, interrupted by two and a half years of service in the U.S. Navy during World War I
, was resumed when he returned to Chicago
and joined the Grauman Brothers' organization as an advertising artist. An early exponent of the drybrush
technique, he had broken away before 1920 from the usual pen-and-ink drawings. His illustrations appeared in many magazines, including Collier’s
, The Saturday Evening Post
and Redbook
.
Davis' early career was almost derailed by love. He returned from World War I
duty to work at Grauman Brothers, Chicago
. When a woman artist was hired, Davis was so distracted, that the woman had to be let go. The woman was Gladys Rockmore
, and she and Davis were married in 1925.
where Floyd, dividing his time between advertising and magazine illustration, soon became top man in both fields. Then, art editors had to compete with art directors of advertising agencies for his drawings. He became an accomplished illustrator for magazines like Woman's Home Companion
, American Magazine
, and a long run at the Saturday Evening Post. He did advertisements for most of the major ad firms with clients like Texaco
, Johnnie Walker
, Eveready
, Desoto
, Real Silk, Nabisco
, Grape Nuts, Caterpillar Inc.
and Hiram Walker
.
Floyd & Gladys moved to New York
and set up house-keeping in the old Sherwood Studios. On December 15, 1928 and February 1, 1930 respectively, Noel Montgomery Davis
and Deborah Davis, their son and daughter made their appearance.
In 1932 (at the height of the Great Depression
), they decided to go abroad for a year to Cannes, France near a Renoir
enclave.
In the thirties, Davis began to illustrate stories of humbler subjects. His pictures of southern rural and hill people for such authors as William Faulkner
, Sigman Byrd, Glenn Allan, and MacKinlay Kantor
became immensely popular. He loved these assignments and filled the pictures not only with a fascinating cast of individuals, but added the special Davis touches: a cat crouched in the corner ready to leap out at a rival, a fly on an old mans heat, a small lizard hiding behind a tree. None of these details intruded on the picture story itself they are there for the perceptive viewer to discover. Readers responded enthusiastically; his pictures were admired as much as the stories themselves.
The family moved in a social milieu which included luminaries in all the arts such as Ernest Hemingway
, Dr. Thomas Mann
, George Gershwin
, Leonard Bernstein
, and the puppeteer Bil Baird
. They lived at 1 West 67th Street, known as the Hotel Des Artistes, later home of the famous Café des Artistes
, where other artists such as Stuart Davis
, Leopold Seyffert
and Leroy Neiman
resided.
as a war correspondent to cover preparations for World War II
. He completed 9 paintings, one of which was used for the double page spread at the center of the magazine.
In 1943, Life Magazine called Floyd Davis the #1 illustrator in America.
In 1942, Davis was sent by Life Magazine to England
to cover the war. When he arrived at the American Eighth Air Force Bomber Command Post he found the troops engaged in preparations for a raid on Hamburg
. The World War I
veteran received permission from Life Magazine and the Defense Department to fly in the raid as a war correspondent. On the morning of July 25, 1943 Floyd Davis flew in the Raid on Hamburg
and painted the raid from the sky. It became one of his most famous paintings.
In 1943, Floyd Davis covered the War from England
and was able to capture the English people as they lived throughout the siege. His most famous painting of Bob Hope
entertaining the troops came from that assignment and still hangs at the Pentagon
in Washington, DC.
Floyd Davis and his wife, Gladys Rockmore Davis
were commissioned by Life Magazine to paint liberated Paris
in 1944 and 1945 where Gladys narrowly escaped death in a German
strafing of Metz
. They were the first husband and wife correspondent team ever assigned to cover a War together. Floyd Davis concentrated on the wartime city with American soldiers, while she painted the familiar and nostalgic scenes. A show of their paintings was exhibited in the foyer of the Time-Life Building
in 1945.
During their time of covering the war, they became friends with the rest of the correspondents who hung out at The Hotel Scribe Barroom. Floyd depicted the entire group as part of a double page spread in the 1945 Life Magazine. His fellow correspondents included the following: Richard De’Rochemont
, David Scherman, Will Lang, Charles Wertenbaker, Ralph Morse
, Robert Capa
, Janet Flanner
, William Shirer, Noel Busch, H.V. Kaltenborn, and Ernest Hemingway
.
, who became a rising star in the New York
art world.
, continued to exhibit and paint as well. In 1961, he was elected as the 5th inductee into The Illustrators Hall of Fame
(external link).
Floyd MacMillan Davis died on October 25, 1966 at the Veterans Administration Hospital
, First Avenue at 24th Street. He was 70 years old and lived at 1 West 67th Street.
Mr. Martin of the Post, said, “Floyd Davis is an artist’s artist, without the disadvantage of baffling the average American magazine reader. Men like him lift illustration to a place where it can rub shoulders with the fine arts without a sense of inferiority.”
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
known for his work in advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
; Walter and Roger Reed described him as "someone who could capture the rich, beautiful people of the 1920s: dashing, mustachioed men; the cool, svelte women. But Davis was just as capable at capturing just-plain-folk, and with a cartoonist's sensibilities and a fresh humor, he expanded into story art and ad work that called characters of every persuasion.
By the early 40’s was recognized as the top man in both fields. In 1943, Life Magazine called him the #1 Illustrator in America.
1896-1925: Early Career & Marriage– Chicago
Floyd MacMillan Davis was born on April 8, 1896 and grew up in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. His ancestors were Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
. Floyd never had the benefit of art school instruction because he was forced by circumstance to quit high school at the end of his first year, after which, he got a job in a lithograph house in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. For $3.00 a week he made tusche and did every kind of manual work entrusted to an apprentice. He was brought into contact with art and was given some opportunity to develop his own drawing skill. His first real art job was with Meyer Both & Co., the well-known Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Art Service.
His art career, interrupted by two and a half years of service in the U.S. Navy during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, was resumed when he returned to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and joined the Grauman Brothers' organization as an advertising artist. An early exponent of the drybrush
Drybrush
Drybrush is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds paint, is used. Load is applied to a dry support such as paper or primed canvas...
technique, he had broken away before 1920 from the usual pen-and-ink drawings. His illustrations appeared in many magazines, including Collier’s
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
and Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
.
Davis' early career was almost derailed by love. He returned from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
duty to work at Grauman Brothers, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. When a woman artist was hired, Davis was so distracted, that the woman had to be let go. The woman was Gladys Rockmore
Gladys Rockmore Davis
Gladys Rockmore Davis was an American artist who succeeded in both commercial and fine arts, and gave up a career in advertising art to devote herself to creative painting. Her work in pastels ranks with her oils, and her chief subjects are children, nudes and still lifes. She also painted ballet...
, and she and Davis were married in 1925.
1926-1941: Top Man in Advertising & Illustration
He had left the studio and was now a free-lance advertising artist. The following year the couple moved to New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where Floyd, dividing his time between advertising and magazine illustration, soon became top man in both fields. Then, art editors had to compete with art directors of advertising agencies for his drawings. He became an accomplished illustrator for magazines like Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion was an American monthly publication, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s....
, American Magazine
American Magazine
The American Magazine was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie...
, and a long run at the Saturday Evening Post. He did advertisements for most of the major ad firms with clients like Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
, Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch Whisky owned by Diageo and originated in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country with yearly sales of over 130 million bottles.-History:Originally known as Walker's...
, Eveready
Energizer Holdings
Energizer Holdings is an American manufacturer of batteries and personal care products, headquartered in Town and Country, Missouri. Its most well known brands are Energizer and Eveready batteries, Schick, Wilkinson Sword and Edge shaving products, Playtex feminine hygiene and baby products, and...
, Desoto
DeSoto (automobile)
The DeSoto was a brand of automobile based in the United States, manufactured and marketed by the Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to 1961. The DeSoto logo featured a stylized image of Hernando de Soto...
, Real Silk, Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
, Grape Nuts, Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
and Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker was an American grocer and distiller, and the eponym of the famous distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in the mid-1830s...
.
Floyd & Gladys moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and set up house-keeping in the old Sherwood Studios. On December 15, 1928 and February 1, 1930 respectively, Noel Montgomery Davis
Noel Rockmore
Noel Rockmore was born Noel Montgomery Davis to mother Gladys Rockmore Davis and father Floyd Davis in New York City. Rockmore was an American painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He claims to have produced over fifteen thousand works of art in his lifetime...
and Deborah Davis, their son and daughter made their appearance.
In 1932 (at the height of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
), they decided to go abroad for a year to Cannes, France near a Renoir
Renoir
-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
enclave.
In the thirties, Davis began to illustrate stories of humbler subjects. His pictures of southern rural and hill people for such authors as William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, Sigman Byrd, Glenn Allan, and MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor , born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several based on the American Civil War, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville, about the Confederate prisoner of war camp...
became immensely popular. He loved these assignments and filled the pictures not only with a fascinating cast of individuals, but added the special Davis touches: a cat crouched in the corner ready to leap out at a rival, a fly on an old mans heat, a small lizard hiding behind a tree. None of these details intruded on the picture story itself they are there for the perceptive viewer to discover. Readers responded enthusiastically; his pictures were admired as much as the stories themselves.
The family moved in a social milieu which included luminaries in all the arts such as Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, Dr. Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, and the puppeteer Bil Baird
Bil Baird
William Britton Baird , professional name Bil Baird, but often referred to as Bill Baird, was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century.One of his better known creations was Charlemane the lion...
. They lived at 1 West 67th Street, known as the Hotel Des Artistes, later home of the famous Café des Artistes
Café des Artistes
Café des Artistes was a fine restaurant at One West 67th Street in Manhattan and was owned by George Lang. He closed the restaurant for vacation at the beginning of August 2009 and decided to keep it closed permanently while away, announcing the close on August 28, 2009...
, where other artists such as Stuart Davis
Stuart Davis (painter)
Stuart Davis , was an early American modernist painter. He was well known for his jazz influenced, proto pop art paintings of the 1940s and 1950s, bold, brash, and colorful as well as his ashcan pictures in the early years of the 20th century.-Biography:He was born in Philadelphia to Edward Wyatt...
, Leopold Seyffert
Leopold Seyffert
thumb|right|Leopold Seyffert ca. 1905Leopold Gould Seyffert was an American artist. Born in California, Missourri and raised as a child in Colorado and then Pittsburgh, his career brought him eventually to New York, via Philadelphia and Chicago...
and Leroy Neiman
LeRoy Neiman
LeRoy Neiman is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, pseudo-expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events.- Early years :...
resided.
1942-1945: World War II Artist– Bermuda, Europe
At the start of 1942, Floyd Davis was featured in the January edition of American Artist. In 1942, Life Magazine sent Floyd Davis to BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
as a war correspondent to cover preparations for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He completed 9 paintings, one of which was used for the double page spread at the center of the magazine.
In 1943, Life Magazine called Floyd Davis the #1 illustrator in America.
In 1942, Davis was sent by Life Magazine to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to cover the war. When he arrived at the American Eighth Air Force Bomber Command Post he found the troops engaged in preparations for a raid on Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran received permission from Life Magazine and the Defense Department to fly in the raid as a war correspondent. On the morning of July 25, 1943 Floyd Davis flew in the Raid on Hamburg
Bombing of Hamburg in World War II
The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous strategic bombing missions and diversion/nuisance raids. As a large port and industrial center, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war...
and painted the raid from the sky. It became one of his most famous paintings.
In 1943, Floyd Davis covered the War from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was able to capture the English people as they lived throughout the siege. His most famous painting of Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
entertaining the troops came from that assignment and still hangs at the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
in Washington, DC.
Floyd Davis and his wife, Gladys Rockmore Davis
Gladys Rockmore Davis
Gladys Rockmore Davis was an American artist who succeeded in both commercial and fine arts, and gave up a career in advertising art to devote herself to creative painting. Her work in pastels ranks with her oils, and her chief subjects are children, nudes and still lifes. She also painted ballet...
were commissioned by Life Magazine to paint liberated Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1944 and 1945 where Gladys narrowly escaped death in a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
strafing of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
. They were the first husband and wife correspondent team ever assigned to cover a War together. Floyd Davis concentrated on the wartime city with American soldiers, while she painted the familiar and nostalgic scenes. A show of their paintings was exhibited in the foyer of the Time-Life Building
Time-Life Building
The Time-Life Building, located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center in New York opened in 1959 and was designed by the Rockefeller family's architect Wallace Harrison, of Harrison, Abramovitz, and Harris.The Time & Life Building was the first of four buildings in Rockefeller...
in 1945.
During their time of covering the war, they became friends with the rest of the correspondents who hung out at The Hotel Scribe Barroom. Floyd depicted the entire group as part of a double page spread in the 1945 Life Magazine. His fellow correspondents included the following: Richard De’Rochemont
Richard de Rochemont
Richard de Rochemont was an American documentary film-maker in the late 1940s, who also worked on the March of Time newsreel series....
, David Scherman, Will Lang, Charles Wertenbaker, Ralph Morse
Ralph Morse
Ralph Morse was a career staff photographer for Life magazine known for his inventive mind and his creative style. Encyclopedias and history books abound with his photos, as he has photographed some of the most widely seen pictures of World War II, the United States space program, and sports...
, Robert Capa
Robert Capa
Robert Capa was a Hungarian combat photographer and photojournalist who covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War...
, Janet Flanner
Janet Flanner
Janet Flanner was an American writer and journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of The New Yorker magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975. She wrote under the pen name "Genêt"...
, William Shirer, Noel Busch, H.V. Kaltenborn, and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
1946-1956: Artist & Retired Illustrator- New York
In 1946, Floyd Davis was featured in a book titled 40 Illustrators and How They Work by Ernest W. Watson. He continued to do some work for major publications like Saturday Evening Post but gradually slipped into retirement and illustrating or painting only for pleasure. During this time he enjoyed the company of his daughter Deborah Davis as they attended symphony and he took pride in the career of his son, Noel DavisNoel Rockmore
Noel Rockmore was born Noel Montgomery Davis to mother Gladys Rockmore Davis and father Floyd Davis in New York City. Rockmore was an American painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He claims to have produced over fifteen thousand works of art in his lifetime...
, who became a rising star in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
art world.
1956-1966: Final Chapter– New York
Floyd Davis continued to paint during the final decade of his life. His works continued to appear in major print media as illustrations for stories and advertisements. His wife, Gladys Rockmore DavisGladys Rockmore Davis
Gladys Rockmore Davis was an American artist who succeeded in both commercial and fine arts, and gave up a career in advertising art to devote herself to creative painting. Her work in pastels ranks with her oils, and her chief subjects are children, nudes and still lifes. She also painted ballet...
, continued to exhibit and paint as well. In 1961, he was elected as the 5th inductee into The Illustrators Hall of Fame
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
(external link).
Floyd MacMillan Davis died on October 25, 1966 at the Veterans Administration Hospital
Veterans Health Administration
The Veterans Health Administration is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the medical assistance program of the VA through the administration and operation of numerous VA outpatient clinics,...
, First Avenue at 24th Street. He was 70 years old and lived at 1 West 67th Street.
Mr. Martin of the Post, said, “Floyd Davis is an artist’s artist, without the disadvantage of baffling the average American magazine reader. Men like him lift illustration to a place where it can rub shoulders with the fine arts without a sense of inferiority.”