About the Object
Fully embracing Cubism, Davis created this still life as part of a larger series of studies throughout the ’20s. Here, the composition is heavily abstracted; the foreground and background are obscured, causing the roses and vase to seemingly float in space. Rather than set the scene with a literal background and tabletop, Davis has removed these traditional elements of a still life. Instead, he replaces them with a central shape that appears like a mirror or a cube which contains the represented objects.
Additional Information
The painting incorporates a similar color palette that he had explored before, such as in Still Life with Book, Compote and Glass (VF2023.03.01) and Still Life with Dial (2003.02.01), choosing to focus more on forms and highlighting the roses themselves as the subject.
The Artist;
E.J. Carlin, El Paso, TX, by May 7, 1940;
Private Collection;
[Zabriskie Gallery, New York, NY];
Private Collection, New York, 1975;
[Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM];
Probably: New York, NY. The Downtown Gallery. Spring Exhibition: Pictures Suggestive of the Season. April 13- May 9, 1927 (review) [title not mentioned].
New York, NY. Valentine (Dudensing) Gallery. Exhibition-Paintings and Watercolors: Glenn Coleman and Stuart Davis. April 23-May 12, 1928, cat. no. 12.
Tulsa, OK. Philbrook Museum of Art. From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection (February 8-May 3, 2015); Phoenix, AZ. Phoenix Art Museum (June 5-September 6, 2015); Santa Fe, NM. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (September 25, 2015-January 10, 2016).
M.P. “Review of Valentine show,” New Yorker, May 5, 1928. Clipping, Stuart Davis Papers, Reel N584, Frame 191. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Boyajian, Ani and Mark Rutkoski eds. Stuart Davis: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007, vol. 2, pp. 545-546, ill. p. 545, cat. no. 1110.
Agee, William C. and Lewis Kachur. Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection. London: Merrell, 2013, pp. 194-195, 238, 264, ill. p. 195.
