Miles Davis Paintings on Exhibit

The Dahl and Gallant Fine Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif. will present an exhibition of six original and recently discovered paintings by Miles Davis this month. The exhibit is being presented in cooperation with Davis’ family, who has agreed to supplement the paintings with items from its private collection. Davis, who began painting in 1980, accrued a substantial amount of work based primarily on the Milan design movement known as “memphis,” a movement centered around hot colors and clashing shapes.

Accompanying the Davis exhibit will be a collection of rare jazz memorabilia belonging to composer Henry Nemo. Nemo’s collection documents his days at the Cotton Club in the mid-1930s, where he wrote the lyrics for “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart,” with Duke Ellington. The collection includes original photographs taken by Nemo at the Cotton Club, Cotton Club memorabilia and a 1939 telegram from Ellington to Nemo.

The gallery’s co-owner, Dirk Dahl, ties the two collections together with his latest work in tribute to the two musicians. Dahl’s work features a series of sculptures of Davis and mixed media on canvas depictions of Nemo’s collection.

A public reception for the exhibit, entitled “A Journey Through Music, Art and History,” will be held at the gallery on Saturday July 24, from 7-10 p.m. The exhibit runs from June 20 through July 31. Dahl and Gallant Fine Art Gallery is located at 1828 Broadway, Suite A in Santa Monica, Calif. and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For information and to view the works included in the exhibition, visit www.dahlandgallantgallery.com.

Originally Published July 5, 2004