Alan Davie was born in Scotland, the son of a painter, and as a child showed considerable musical gifts. His talents as a painter developed alongside side his talents as a jazz musician (the alto-saxophone being his instrument) and the improvisatory nature of jazz music with the spontaneous interaction between musicians parallels the freedoms of his painting, and the direct relationship he has with his paints and the canvas. He painted his first abstract works in 1945 and thus joined the vanguard of European modernism. He abandoned painting for a year's tour with a jazz band; when he returned his iconography and style were set in the direction they have followed ever since. His compositions are unusually suggestive, full of strong forms and incidents, and bear full and descriptive titles, the view is led to think that they are representations of something, if only he were provided with a visual dictionary.