Synopsis
Stuart Davis (1892-1964), once described as "the ace of America's Modernists," regarded drawing as central to his art. He believed that all his works were drawings, and developed his images as carefully adjusted black-and-white "configurations" which he translated to "color-space compositions" only at the last stage of his painting procedure. He even retranslated some of his most ambitious and best-known paintings back into large-scale black-and-white drawings on canvas, apparently as a final version of the image.
This volume examines, for the first time, the full range of Davis's activity as a draftsman, from his early naturalistic drawings in the manner of the Ashcan School to the economical near-abstractions of his maturity. A broad interpretation of the notion of drawing, in keeping with Davis's own understanding of the term, allows the inclusion of works on paper in a variety of mediums, including watercolors, gouaches, and some late black-and-white drawings on canvas.
Included as well are selections from Davis's extensive writings, which contain innumerable references to drawing: attempts to define what constitutes a good drawing, and discussions of the role of drawing in his work and in the formulation of his complex theories of composition. Just as important, Davis's notebooks contain many images, ranging from diagrams that illustrate theory to fully developed, self-sufficient drawings.
Karen Wilkin and Lewis C. Kachur, both eminent Davis scholars, draw heavily on his unpublished writings and less well-known images to deepen our understanding of Davis and of American modernism in its formative years.
Reviews
Although best known for his vibrantly colored paintings, which applied Cubist and modernist techniques to distinctively American subjects, Davis (1892-1964) believed that "an Idea in Art has no existence previous to the act of Drawing," an act to which he devoted much time and effort. This volume, the catalogue for a traveling exhibit, reveals what Davis called the "amazing continuity" of themes and images in his paintings and drawings; a group of carefully laid out preparatory drawings and dark-hued color studies for his famous "Egg Beater" series shows that he often worked out ideas with ink on paper before beginning a canvas. Primarily an abstract painter, Davis often returned to naturalism when he encountered a new landscape, as evidenced in this collection by street scenes of Gloucester, Mass., Havana and Paris. Wilkin and Kachur, respectively guest curator and consulting curator of the exhibition, each contribute an essay; both tend to refer to the same works, a very small percentage of the 110 illustrations (40 in color), and neither displays more than a trace of Davis's appealing wit and vigor. Nonetheless, the book adds to our knowledge of a crucial aspect of this unique artist's work. In keeping with their subject's loose definition of what constitutes a drawing, the curators have included watercolors, gouache and collages on paper as well as a few works on board or canvas.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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