Abstract By Choice Page: 6
[20] p. : ill. ; 22 x 28 cm.View a full description of this pamphlet.
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I8 DAVX IS
LESSON I
PORTRAIT OF A MAN. 1911. Watercolor.
15" x 11". Lent by the William H. Lane Foundation.
ROCKPORT BEACH. 1916. Oil. 24" x 36". Lent by
The Downtown Gallery.
NEW YORK-PARIS #3. 1930. Oil. 461/2" x 5912"
(with frame). Collection Sonia and Michael Watter.
LESSON 1. 1956. Oil. 60" x 52". Lent by The Down-
town Gallery.Stuart Davis has lived most of his life in New York
City, and the majority of his work echoes the sights
and sounds of the metropolis. Dixieland jazz,
blinking neon, glaring billboards and even gasoline
pumps figure to a great degree, both literally and
for the life-tempo they symbolize, in his canvases.
An artist deeply attuned to his environment, Davis
truly reflects the idiom of modern America.
He was born in Philadelphia in 1894; as the son of
two artists, he found early encouragement for his
work. In 1910, while still in school, he enrolled in
the art classes of Robert Henri. The famous Armory
Show of 1913, and specifically the canvases of
Van Gogh, Gauguin and Matisse, had a catalytic
and lasting influence on his philosophy and painting.
From that date forward, he expended less effort in
searching out unusual subject-matter (the individ-
ual's right to choose his subject was an Henri cliche)
and applied himself to working out the more pro-
found problems of space-color relationships and
ordered, rhythmic composition.
Davis' conversion to the abstract school was per-
manent. Working out his problems in terms of
contrasts - rhythmic, colored, action-charged con-
trasts - he nonetheless has never abandoned material
objects and actual scenes for his inspiration.
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Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts. Abstract By Choice, pamphlet, 1957; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth176559/m1/8/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art.