Stuart Davis

description

Key ideas:

– The artist’s works impress you with optimism and inexhaustible vital energy. Like the author’s favorite rhythms of jazz, they captivate you and make you feel completely immersed in a whirlpool of bright colors and unforgettable impressions. Compared with the paintings by European Cubists, mostly cold, often monochrome and devoid of strong experiences, Davis’ work is a bright explosion of emotions and a powerful energy charge.

– Throughout his life, the artist did not depart from the chosen style and subject. Despite the huge popularity of Abstract art in the United States, Davis’ pictures always have a real, physical basis, although quite simplistic in terms of its building and color combinations.

– Another feature and an absolute innovation in the artist’s painting is the absence of a visual center of the picture. Figures in the canvases of Davis do not create a certain composition in the academic sense of the term. They are placed on the entire surface of the canvas and are given the same value. Such an unusual solution creates an original rhythm and movement in pictures, widening the boundaries of the picture and as if moving it to the real space.

– In the works of Davis, as flat and colorful as a poster, there is invariably a recognizable popular object or its element that causes a certain association. This can be a pack of cigarettes Lucky Strike, an old Ford or a piece of an advertising signboard, which people go by every day. These ordinary and familiar objects and images make one feel their involvement in the action shown in the canvas.

– Stuart Davis’ great merit and the secret of his incredible popularity is that he was able to bring high art, far and incomprehensible, to the ordinary spectator, the average inhabitant, pulling him out of everyday life and making him a part of his art. This is how the artist broke existing stereotypes in society and captured his name in the history of fine art forever.

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1894

1910

1913

1917

1920

1930

1940 - 1950

1960

1964

The birth of the artist

He was born on December 7, 1894. Philadelphia, USA.

Until 1913, he studied painting at the New York School of Art

Until 1913, he studied painting at the New York School of Art under the direction of Robert Henry, who significantly influenced the student.

Became the youngest artist at the famous Armory exhibition in New York

Became the youngest artist at the famous Armory exhibition in New York. At the exhibition of contemporary art, Davis presented several of his works related to so-called “School of Trash Bins”. By that time, he had made friends with innovative artists Glenn Coleman and Henry Glintenkamp, with whom he began working with the magazine Massa, which supported the left-wing policy. The artist left Henry’s school and, together with Glintenkamp, rented a studio in Hoboken, New Jersey. During this period, the artist’s creativity underwent cardinal changes, which were the result of the acquaintance with avant-garde European painting.

The first personal exhibition

The first personal exhibition of the artist at the gallery Sheridan Square in New York. Davis gradually became one of the most famous representatives of Cubism and Art Nouveau in the United States. The following year, the artist made a creative trip to Cuba, visiting, in particular, Havana, which provided excellent opportunities for creating original canvases.

He traveled to Mexico and first visited Paris

In the 1920s, the artist’s style became more original and stable. In his work, there were characteristic features of the personal style. He traveled to Mexico and first visited Paris (1928), where he lived, studied and worked for a whole year. During his stay in France, he got acquainted with the works of contemporary artists and painted street scenes. After returning to America, he finally settled in New York.

Created a wall painting for the City Radio Music Hall in New York

Created a wall painting for the City Radio Music Hall in New York. During this period, Davis was also concerned about the political aspects of art and the availability of abstract painting for the masses. From 1931, the artist taught at Art Students League (Student League of Arts) courses and became its member, and later the head of the Union of American Artists.

The artist represented the US at the Venice Biennale

The artist became incredibly popular among his colleagues and ordinary art lovers. He taught at the New School of Social Research and Yale University and became the icon of new American art. The creativity of Davis found a lot of followers and admirers in America, who continued his endeavors in several new directions, primarily in pop art. In 1952 and 1954, the artist represented the US at the Venice Biennale, became a laureate of the Guggenheim International Art Award.

Received the prestigious Guggenheim Prize a second time

Received the prestigious Guggenheim Prize a second time. In the last years of his long and fruitful career, Stuart Davis created a series of large monumental canvases, in which the inherent painting traits remain.