Davidson's works were exhibited at the Hudson River Museum, New-York Historical Society and the National Academy of Design in the 1870s and 1880s.

[3] In 1870, he left home to be on the crew of a steamship sailing around the world, where he learned an appreciation of drawing and painting of ships and boats.

In 1884, he was commissioned to provide illustrations of naval scenes for the four-volume work The Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.

[1] On September 11, 1986, the Historical Society of Rockland County held an exhibition titled, "Julian O. Davidson (1853-1894), American Marine Artist.

Curator Lynn S. Beman said that "This exhibition constitutes a total rediscovery of this important 19th-century American marine artist.