Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964

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Stuart Davis (1892-1964) was a painter and teacher, from New York.

From the description of Stuart Davis correspondence with Francis Henry Taylor, 1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 756821083

Painter; New York, N.Y. Birthdate also cited as 1894.

From the description of Stuart Davis interview, 1962 May-June. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220202540

Painter and teacher, New York.

From the description of Stuart Davis correspondence with Francis Henry Taylor, 1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122515831

Davis was born on December 7, 1892 (often noted as 1894) in Philadelphia, PA, to Helen Stuart Folke and Edward Wyatt Davis. The Davis family moved to East Orange, New Jersey, when Stuart was 7; he dropped out of high school in 1909 to study painting with Robert Henri. Davis, one of the most important early American modernists, is best known for his brightly colored abstract paintings using a cubist vocabulary, which incorporate in his compositions elements derived from scenes in New York City and Gloucester, Massachusetts, gasoline pumps, egg beaters, and commercial products such as cigarette packaging, as well as signage and words. He was married to Bessie Chosak, who died in 1932. He later married Roselle Springer; they had one child, George Earl. Stuart Davis died of a stroke in New York City on June 24, 1964.

From the description of Papers, 1918-1964. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 234361065

From the description of Papers, 1918-1964. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612893355

Painter; New York, N.Y.

Work primarily abstract. Exhibited at age nineteen in the Armory Show. Went to France for one year, 1928; worked for WPA; active in many art organizations.

From the description of Stuart Davis papers, 1911-1966. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122454393

One of the most important early American modernists, Edward Stuart Davis was born on December 7, 1892 (often noted as 1894) in Philadelphia, PA, to Helen Stuart Foulke and Edward Wyatt Davis, an illustrator at the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Davis family moved to East Orange, NJ in 1901. He dropped out of high school in 1909 to study painting at the Robert Henri School of Art in New York.

Davis exhibited five watercolors in the 1913 Armory Show, and in response to the work of such European artists shown as Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Matisse, resolved to become a "modern" artist. He joined the staff of The Masses, under the art editor, John Sloan, contributing illustrations and covers, and resigned in 1916 during the artists' strike. Invited by Sloan to visit Gloucester, MA, in 1915, Davis would return almost annually through 1940, maintaining a summer-autumn studio there.

In 1928-1929, he lived in Paris, where he painted and produced a series of lithographs. He completed seven murals, including two while working for the WPA. Politically active in the 1930's, he was the editor of Art Front, the journal of the Artists' Union, and served as the executive secretary and later the national chairman of the American Artists' Congress. In articles and speeches, Davis defended artists' rights and the American contribution to modern art. A life-long fan of jazz, he acknowledged its influence as an authentic American art form.

Davis taught at the Art Students League, NY (1931-1932), the New School for Social Research (1940–1951), New Jersey State Teachers College, Newark, NJ (1942), and Yale University (1951). Major retrospective exhibitions were organized by the Museum of Modern Art, (1945), and the Walker Art Center (1957). The recipient of numerous awards, Davis was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1956.

Stuart Davis is best known for his brightly colored abstract paintings using a cubist vocabulary, which incorporate in his compositions elements derived from scenes of New York and Gloucester, gasoline pumps, egg beaters and commercial products such as cigarette packaging, as well as signage and words. He was married to Bessie Chosak, who died in 1932. He later married Roselle Springer; they had one child, George Earl. Stuart Davis died of a stroke in New York City on June 24, 1964.

From the guide to the Papers, 1918-1964, (Harvard Art Museum; Fogg Art Museum: Department of Drawings)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Davis, Stuart : Biographical file. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
referencedIn Walker Art Center. Exhibition records, 1940-1960. Walker Art Center Library
creatorOf Stuart Davis papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Papers, 1918-1964. Houghton Library
referencedIn Katharine Kuh papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Matthew Baigell papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Papers relating to the 1913 Armory Show 50th Anniversary Exhibition Archives of American Art
referencedIn Elizabeth S. Navas papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Katharine Kuh papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Painting and Sculpture. Institutional file, Exhibitions. Stuart Davis: art and art theory. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn Oral history interview with Katharine Kuh Archives of American Art
referencedIn William Kienbusch papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn American Artists' Congress. Correspondence : with Carl Zigrosser, 1935-1937. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Ney, Lloyd Raymond, 1893- : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Emanuel Benson papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn Denys Wortman papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Richard E. Filipowski papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Papers, 1918-1964. Harvard University Art Museums [preferred code= MH-AM or MH-HUAM]
creatorOf Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Zabriskie Gallery records Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1894-1964. Letter, 1935, to Lewis Mumford. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf International Association of Art Critics panel discussions Archives of American Art
referencedIn Downtown Gallery records Archives of American Art
referencedIn Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection Archives of American Art
referencedIn Arnold Newman photographs of artists Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1939-1964. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976. What modern art means to me. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Dorothy C. Miller papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Katharine Kuh Archives of American Art
referencedIn Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
referencedIn Administrative records: public relations, 1931-1980. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Walter Quirt papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Papers, 1918-1964 Harvard Art Museums. Fogg Art Museum. Department of Drawings
creatorOf McKay, Claude, 1890-1948. Letters, 1964-1967. Temple University, Blockson Afro-American History Collection
creatorOf Erle Loran papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Whitney Studio Club and Whitney Studio Galleries administrative records, 1916-1983, 1916-1930 (bulk). New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Newark Museum. Records of exhibitions, related programs, and events, 1906-[ongoing]. Newark museum
creatorOf Roy R. Neuberger papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Hugo Gellert Papers, Bulk, 1934-1944, 1934-1980s, (Bulk 1934-1944) Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
creatorOf Lee Nordness business records and papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Milton and Edith Lowenthal papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Barbara Rose papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Artists files, [ca. 1930]-1986. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Max Weber papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Office of the Director. Lee H. B. Malone correspondence and miscellaneous subjects, 1949-1960. Hirsch Library Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
creatorOf William Kienbusch papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf New York World's Fair (1939-1940). New York World's Fair 1939-1940 records, 1935-1945, bulk (1939-1940). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Stuart Davis correspondence with Francis Henry Taylor Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Stuart Davis : artist file : study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1930?-1990 [graphic] [compiled by staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York]. Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn Louis Lozowick Papers, 1922-1974 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Autograph manuscript diary, 1920 May-1922 Nov. 28. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Dorothy C. Miller papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. [Stuart Davis : International Art & Artists File]. Libraries Australia
referencedIn Edward Fisk papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Rudi Blesh papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. [Stuart Davis] : artist file John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Library, Ringling Museum Library
referencedIn Holger Cahill Papers, 1907-1983, 1942-1959 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn John D. Graham papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Whitney Museum of American Art artists' files and records Archives of American Art
creatorOf John Barber papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Photography. Records, Exhibition negatives: installations. Stuart Davis: Art and Art Theory. 1978. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn Will Barnet papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Paul Burlin papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Cahill, Holger, 1887-1960. Holger Cahill Papers, 1907-1983, bulk (1942-1959). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf John Weichsel papers concerning the People's Art Guild Archives of American Art
creatorOf John D. Graham papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Text of comments by participants in The Modern Artist Speaks forum Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with Robert Broner Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Charles Alan Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with George McNeil Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Charles Henry Alston Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Jacob Kainen Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Hananiah Harari Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Isamu Noguchi Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Harold Rosenberg Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Stuart Davis Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Alan, Charles, 1908?-1975, person
associatedWith Alston, Charles Henry, 1907-1977, person
associatedWith American Art Expositions (Firm) corporateBody
associatedWith American Artists' Congress. corporateBody
associatedWith Baigell, Matthew. person
associatedWith Barber, John, 1893-1965. person
associatedWith Barnet, Will, 1911- person
associatedWith Benson, Emanuel, 1904-1971. person
associatedWith Blesh, Rudi, 1899-1985. person
associatedWith Broner, Robert, 1922- person
associatedWith Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Painting and Sculpture. corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Photography. corporateBody
associatedWith Burlin, Paul, 1886-1969. person
associatedWith Cahill, Holger, 1887-1960. person
associatedWith Carlton, Margaret, 1903-1998. person
associatedWith Carlton, Margaret Gillies, 1903-1998. person
associatedWith Davis, Helen Stuart, 1869-1965. person
associatedWith Downtown Gallery. corporateBody
associatedWith Downtown Gallery (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Federal Art Project. corporateBody
associatedWith Filipowski, Richard E., 1923- person
associatedWith Fisk, Edward, 1886-1944. person
associatedWith Gellert, Hugo, 1892-1985 person
associatedWith Graham, John, 1881-1961. person
associatedWith Graham, John, 1887-1961. person
associatedWith Harari, Hananiah, 1912-2000, person
associatedWith Horn, Sol. person
associatedWith International Association of Art Critics. corporateBody
associatedWith John Graham person
associatedWith Kainen, Jacob person
associatedWith Kienbusch, William, 1914-1980. person
associatedWith Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984. person
associatedWith Kuh, Katharine. person
associatedWith Loran, Erle, 1905-1999. person
associatedWith Lowenthal, Milton. person
associatedWith Lozowick, Louis, 1892-1973 person
associatedWith McKay, Claude, 1890-1948. person
associatedWith McNeil, George, 1908- person
associatedWith Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Miller, Dorothy Canning person
associatedWith Miller, Dorothy Canning, 1904-2003. person
associatedWith Modern Artist Speaks (1948 : Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Modern Artist Speaks (1948 : Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Office of the Director. corporateBody
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Navas, Elizabeth S., 1885-1979. person
associatedWith Neuberger, Roy R. person
associatedWith Newark Museum. corporateBody
associatedWith Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006. person
associatedWith New York World's Fair (1939-1940) corporateBody
associatedWith Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988 person
associatedWith Philadelphia Museum of Art. corporateBody
associatedWith Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920- person
associatedWith Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973. person
associatedWith Quirt, Walter, 1902-1968. person
associatedWith Rattner, Abraham. person
associatedWith Rosenberg, Harold, 1906-1978. person
associatedWith Taylor, Francis Henry, 1903-1957. person
associatedWith The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Walker Art Center. corporateBody
associatedWith Weber, Max, 1881-1961. person
associatedWith Wehle, Harry B. (Harry Brandeis), b. 1887. person
associatedWith Weichsel, John, 1870-1946. person
associatedWith Whitney Museum of American Art. corporateBody
associatedWith Whitney Studio Club. corporateBody
associatedWith Wortman, Denys, 1887-1958. person
associatedWith Zabriskie Gallery. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (State)--New York
United States
New York (State)
New York (State)--New York
New York (State)--New York
New York (N.Y.)
New York (N.Y.)
United States
New York (N.Y.)
Subject
Art, Modern
Art, American
Art, American
Art
Art
Art, Abstract
Art, Abstract
Art and philosophy
Artists
Artists' writings
Art museums
Cubism
Drawing, American
Federal aid to the arts
Jazz
Painters
Painting, Abstract
Painting, Abstract
Painting, American
Painting, Modern
Sculptors
Women sculptors
Occupation
Artists
Activity

Person

Birth 1892-12-07

Death 1964-06-24

Americans

English

Information

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Ark ID: w6g44sw7

SNAC ID: 70505717