Stuart Davis

(American, 1892–1964)

Stuart Davis was an American Modernist painter, best known for his brilliantly colored abstractions of jazz musicians, street scenes, and landscapes. Davis was a conduit for American culture, and through his graphic forms and aggregate compositions, he translated his experiences into dynamic works such as The Mellow Pad (1945–1951). “My concept of form is very simple and is based on the assumption that space is continuous and that matter is discontinuous,” he once explained. “In my formal concept the question of two or more dimensions does not enter.” Born on December 7, 1892 in Philadelphia, PA, Davis studied under the Ashcan School painter Robert Henri in New York. Heeding Henri’s advice to paint the gritty everyday scenes of the city, Davis frequented back alleys and saloons while becoming involved in leftist politics. Rising to prominence after his inclusion in the famed 1913 Armory Show, it was at the exhibition that he first saw the works of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. By the 1920s, Davis’s work shifted from the realist aesthetic of his youth into the mature abstracted compositions he is best known for. Over the following decade, he became friends with the artists John Graham, Charles Demuth, and Arshile Gorky. It was during the Great Depression that Davis’s work became increasingly critical of capitalism and he began using painting as a vehicle for his political views. Unable to remain at forefront of the avant-garde during the 1950s, Davis nonetheless represented the United States in both the 1952 and 1954 Venice Biennales. He died on June 24, 1964 in New York, NY. Today, the artist’s works are included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, among others.

Stuart Davis News

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Going to Bat for Stuart Davis, a Genius in Every Branch of Modernism

by Blake Gopnik

Going to Bat for Stuart Davis, a Genius in Every Branch of Modernism

Stuart Davis Artworks

Stuart Davis (635 results)

Composition (June Jitterbug Jive), 1940

Stuart Davis

Composition (June Jitterbug Jive), 1940

Sale Date: November 19, 2015

Auction Closed

Carrefour, 1928

Stuart Davis

Carrefour, 1928

Sale Date: November 19, 2015

Auction Closed

Ways & Means, 1960

Stuart Davis

Ways & Means, 1960

Sale Date: November 19, 2015

Auction Closed

Still Life with Bottles, 1927

Stuart Davis

Still Life with Bottles, 1927

Sale Date: November 19, 2015

Auction Closed

LITTLE GIANT STILL LIFE (BLACK AND WHITE..., 1953

Stuart Davis

LITTLE GIANT STILL LIFE (BLACK AND WHITE..., 1953

Sale Date: November 18, 2015

Auction Closed

NEW YORK STREET, 1941

Stuart Davis

NEW YORK STREET, 1941

Sale Date: November 18, 2015

Auction Closed

Theatre on the Beach, 1931

Stuart Davis

Theatre on the Beach, 1931

Sale Date: September 24, 2015

Auction Closed

Place des Vosges, 1928

Stuart Davis

Place des Vosges, 1928

Sale Date: September 24, 2015

Auction Closed

Landscape Blue, 1919

Stuart Davis

Landscape Blue, 1919

Sale Date: September 22, 2015

Auction Closed

Untitled from the

Stuart Davis

Untitled from the "Ten Works x Ten Painters"...

Sale Date: August 29, 2015

Auction Closed

Village Street Scene (Provincetown), 1917

Stuart Davis

Village Street Scene (Provincetown), 1917

Sale Date: June 4, 2015

Auction Closed

Rue de Rats

Stuart Davis

Sale Date: April 23, 2015

Auction Closed

Bass Rocks, 1941

Stuart Davis

Bass Rocks, 1941

Sale Date: April 23, 2015

Auction Closed

Landscape Blue, 1919

Stuart Davis

Landscape Blue, 1919

Sale Date: March 25, 2015

Auction Closed

Untitled

After Stuart Davis

Sale Date: December 6, 2014

Auction Closed

The Blues, 1925

Stuart Davis

The Blues, 1925

Sale Date: November 19, 2014

Auction Closed

Still Life with Flowers and Vase, 1922

Stuart Davis

Still Life with Flowers and Vase, 1922

Sale Date: November 5, 2014

Auction Closed

Greek Backwards (Greek Restaurant), 1921

Stuart Davis

Greek Backwards (Greek Restaurant), 1921

Sale Date: November 17, 2014

Auction Closed

Place de Vosges, 1928

Stuart Davis

Place de Vosges, 1928

Sale Date: October 30, 2014

Auction Closed

Study for Gravesend

Stuart Davis

Study for Gravesend

Sale Date: October 2, 2014

Auction Closed

Landscape, 1917

Stuart Davis

Landscape, 1917

Sale Date: October 2, 2014

Auction Closed

Natural Scene, 1955

After Stuart Davis

Natural Scene, 1955

Sale Date: September 23, 2014

Auction Closed

Bleecker Street (Bleecker Street, March 16,..., 1913

Stuart Davis

Bleecker Street (Bleecker Street, March 16,..., 1913

Sale Date: May 21, 2014

Auction Closed

Study for hot still-scape, 1940

Stuart Davis

Study for hot still-scape, 1940

Sale Date: May 21, 2014

Auction Closed

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