Stuart Davis
U.S., 1894-1964 Waterfront, 1935
Oil on panel
20 x 30 in.
WPA Federal Art Project, 1942
During a period in which many American
artists and critics were turning their backs on European modernism,
Stuart Davis was successfully blending it with local subject matter
to create what has been described as a uniquely American view.
Davis deemed it futile to copy nature, asserting that painting is
“the art of defining two-dimensional space” on a plane
surface. In other words, his interest was in creating successful
compositions through the use of line, shape, and color.
The subject of Waterfront is Gloucester, Massachusettes,
a place popular with many American artists. One of the artist’s
sketches reveals that this is a continuous view; however, Davis
divided the canvas to give the appearance of several separate scenes.
He also “floated” the entire composition on an infinite
white background, further manipulating time and space. The beacon
is placed outside the main image but is linked by ropes that frame
the composition.
