About the Object
In the 1920s, Davis began developing a more mature artistic style after his debut at the 1913 Armory Show. He spent summers with fellow artist John Sloan in Gloucester, Massachusetts, painting a series of harbour scenes. Tree and Urn showcases this developing mature style as the artist moved away from the realism of the Ashcan school. The influence of artists like Van Gogh and Matisse are noticeable in the brushwork, as Davis not only explored simplified shapes, but also texture and color theory. This piece, in particular, focuses on a limited palette that is almost entirely monochromatic.
Additional Information
This is one of 12 works from the 1920s, a pivotal decade in Davis’s artist evolution, in the Collection.
The Artist;
Private Collection, New York, NY;
[Robert Henry Adams Fine Art, Chicago, IL];
Estate of the Artist;
[Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM];
New York, NY. Whitney Studio Club. Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Stuart Davis. December 8-22, 1926, cat. no. 24.
New York, NY. Grace Borgenicht Gallery. Stuart Davis: Provincetown and Gloucester: Paintings and Drawings. April 1-26, 1986, cat. no. 17.
New York, NY. Salander-O’Reilly Galleries. Stuart Davis (1892-1964): Motifs and Versions. November 2-December 27, 1988, ill. np., cat. no. 1.
New York, NY. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stuart Davis, American Painter (November 23, 1991-February 16, 1992); San Francisco, CA. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (March 26-June 7, 1992); pp. 155-156, ill p. 155, cat. no. 38.
Vienna, Austria. Galerie Ulysses. Stuart Davis (October 19-November 7, 1992); New York. Ulysses Gallery (November 18-30, 1992); ill., np.
Koriyama, Japan. Koriyama City Museum of Art. Stuart Davis Retrospective (July 8-August 6, 1995); Shiga, Japan. Shiga Museum of Modern Art (August 12-October 1, 1995); Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum (October 10-November 26, 1995); pp. 79, 163, ill. p. 79, cat. no. 37.
New York, NY. Salander O’Reilly Galleries. From Corot to Poons: 19th and 20th Century Gallery Selections, April 29-May 17, 1997.
Agee, William C. Stuart Davis: The Breakthrough Years. New York: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, 1987, ill. np., fig. 3.
Wilkin, Karen. Stuart Davis. New York: Abbeville Press, 1987, ill. p. 81, pl. 81.
Kimmelman, Michael. “Review/Art; The Lean, Sharp Formalism of Stuart Davis,” New York Times, November 25, 1988, C18.
Boyajian, Ani and Mark Rutkoski eds. Stuart Davis: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007, pp. 108-109, ill. p. 109, cat. no. 1458.
Agee, William C. and Lewis Kachur. Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection. London: Merrell, 2013, pp. 17, 176, 179, 263, ill. p. 179.
Pochoda, Elizabeth. “Freedom and the abstract truth: Jan and Marica Vilcek’s collection of American modernist art,” The Magazine Antiques (May/June 2013), ill. p. 103.
O’Hern, John. “Modern Manor,” American Fine Art Magazine, September/October 2013, ill. p. 62.
