Herndon Davis

Herndon Davis (1901–1962) was an American artist, journalist, illustrator, and painter. He worked at the National War College in Washington, D.C., creating maps of China and Japan. Davis was an illustrator for New York, Washington, D.C., and Denver newspapers. He was also commissioned to make paintings and murals.

He moved to Denver in 1936, where his paintings captured notable people and landmarks of Denver and the west. "In some cases Davis provides the only extant image of certain people and places. In hundreds of colorful paintings and drawings he adds impressively to our portrait gallery," according to James X. Kroll, Manager, Western History and Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library, where many of Davis works are exhibited.

His subjects ranged from notorious prostitutes, like Ella "Cattle Kate" Watson, to Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr. Davis made paintings of houses and mansions, like that owned by William Byers. He also captured the stately Tabor Grand Opera House and buildings that had significantly changed over time. Davis created a painting of an art gallery that used to be a brothel and another of a "shabby" apartment building that has been an elegant hotel. He painted The Face on the Barroom Floor, depicting his wife, on the bar room floor of Teller House in Central City.

Early life Herndon Davis was in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, born in 1901. His parents were ranchers. The family moved often. Davis moved to Kansas City, Missouri, when he was fourteen to take art lessons, which he supported by taking unskilled jobs. He then moved to Chicago and worked as an apprentice to an engraver and as a commercial artist.

The Face Davis was commissioned by the Central City Opera Association to paint a series of paintings for the Central City Opera House; he was also requested to do some work at the Teller House in Central City. While staying at Teller House, and on a whim, he painted The Face on the Barroom Floor. The mural painted on the floor of the hotel's bar, now named The Face, was confirmed to be his wife after her death. It is thought to have been inspired by the poem The Face upon the Barroom Floor by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy. That episode led to the artist and journalist being called “that drunk who painted the face on the barroom floor”, according to authors Tom Noel and Craig Leavitt.

Notable people and places

Some of his paintings of notable people and places, like the painting of Dr. Frederick J. Bancroft's farmhouse made in 1941, are displayed at the Western History section of the Denver Public Library. The book Herndon Davis: Painting Colorado History, 1901–1962 was released in conjunction of an exhibition of his work at the Denver Public Library. There was also an exhibit, in conjunction with the book, in 2016 at the Denver Art Museum. He also painted santos. His illustration of Ella "Cattle Kate" Watson was used for Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountain by Jan MacKell.

Davis captured images of Denver's landmarks, generally in watercolor, some of which no longer exist. Now a gallery of western art, the Navarre building across from the Brown Palace Hotel had been a brothel.

Personal life and death Davis met Edna Juanita (Nita) Cotter in 1928. Cotter, who was eleven years older than Davis, was to become his wife.

Herndon was commissioned to create a mural for the Smithsonian Institution, which he began work on, when he died of a heart attack in 1962. He is buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery.