Stuart Davis: A Catalogue Raisonne (3 volumes) (Yale University Art Gallery)

by Ani Boyajian, Mark Rutkoski

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Editorial Reviews

Stuart Davis (1892-1964) made a mark on the art world early in his career, first with his Ashcan works and then with his highly personal version of Cubism, which firmly established American modernism as a force that could rival its European counterpart. Over the course of six decades, Davis produced artworks that drew inspiration from the European modernists but were deeply rooted in the popular culture of the United States. Jazz music and hipster talk, vaudeville stages, city streetscapes, New England fishing villages, gasoline stations, store fronts, and commercial packaging and advertising images were among the sources that infused his art with energy, bringing crisp edges, radiant colour, and syncopated rhythms to a vast body of paintings, watercolours, and drawings. Documenting the life's work of this prolific and highly influential artist, who affected almost every development in American art from second-generation Ashcan realism around 1912 to colour field and geometric painting in the 1960s, is a monumental achievement. In these three volumes, the editors have catalogued 1,749 artworks by the artist, including more than 600 works never previously illustrated, providing extensive documentation and information about each one. A detailed chronology of Davis' life, as well as an enlightening discussion of the compositional relationship between certain works spanning his oeuvre, rounds out this study. Exquisitely designed and produced, "Stuart Davis: A Catalogue Raisonne" will be the definitive reference on the artist's work for many years to come.

Customer Reviews

stuart davis is treated right!, 2007-11-06
by Winston hough (Glenview, Il. United States)

You would have to be petty to quarrel with this three volume set.It is very heavy.It is 27 pounds Our mail lady had a hard time bringing it to the door.The choice of paper and typographry are all excellent. The reproductions are first rate. Some could be larger ,but they are in other volumes as well . This set contains work that anyone who knows Davis's work,will not have seen before.Many sketchbooks are in volume 2 , I have two of his sketchbooks and I was happy to see these as I knew he favored line drawing ,AND THERE ARE A PLETHORA OF LINE ART..If you like Stuart Davis,the American father of pop art you will love this set.Whatever you had studied of Davis before this set will add depth to that study.This set will keep you busy for a while, you will need a table to read the books.The local book store didn't have the set on their shelves, so I am happy I got the set,so promply. I predict this work will become more valuable as time goes on.Please note, I purchased the set from Amazon.As I said:if you are a Stuart Davis fan ,you will want this set.The repros are first rate and the volumes ,speak volumes. Volume one has series of his works (after the essays by Wilkin and Agee both Davis experts)in the back, the repros are small but it is one of the most interesting sections of the set.You can compare and contrast the various aspects of a series,such as Mellow Pad... I would hope in a future edition that this section would be available on a CD so that the paintings and drawings can be enlarged.This set is instructive a friend came over to look at my set and after examining the books and finding everything first-rate went home and ordered a set.Since I received the set I continue to find theories and works that are instructive.His subject matter didn't change over 50 years,it was always the urban scene. The change in his work came from his democratic ideals: he no longer worked in social conscious subject matter. He learned that the work was more democratic if the formal properties were better undersood.That is where the cultural gap is : hard ,difficult formality..vs. work that can be more quickly absorbed.