"His classes in Italian Renaissance painting and on Northern European painting were among the most popular undergraduate courses at Columbia," and thanks to him, "[g]enerations of Columbia College students graduated with an especially deep appreciation of the art of Giotto and of Jan van Eyck.

His teaching career began in 1942 at Hunter College (NY); he moved to Columbia in 1944 and stayed there until he hit its mandatory retirement age of 70.

Davis' publications include "Fantasy and Irony in Pieter Bruegel's Prints" (1943), "Gravity in the Paintings of Giotto" (1971), and "Bees on the Tomb of Urban VIII" (1989).

His only child, Alison McParlin Davis-Murphy, is a writer, photographer, and guitarist living in Los Angeles.

In 2020, a gift from an anonymous donor enabled Columbia University to establish an endowed professorship in honor of Davis.