The Flax Pullers

Davidson paints men and women gathering flax for the local linen industry in County Tyrone. The bright sunlit colors of the scene reveal the Wicklow-born artist's knowledge of French techniques. In addition to traveling and painting on the Continent, Davidson spent time in Northern Ireland. Rather than focusing on the beauty of the landscape, her concern is with the lives and activities of ordinary people. Her figures are not individual portrait studies - hats or bonnets obscure the faces - and are reduced to blocks of color.