Art Theory Text with Modeled versus Flat Plane Diagrams 1923

Curator: This is a fascinating glimpse into Stuart Davis's artistic thinking. This page, held at the Harvard Art Museums, showcases "Art Theory Text with Modeled versus Flat Plane Diagrams." Editor: It looks like a personal manifesto! The handwriting is so intimate, and the diagrams give it a very direct, almost instructional feel. Curator: Absolutely. It's a key to understanding his aesthetic choices. He was really trying to distill painting down to its essential elements. You see in the text how he describes his preference for flat planes of color over what he calls "realistic transcripts." Editor: And those little diagrammatic sketches are so telling. The contrast he draws between modeling and flatness—it's a rejection of illusionism, a commitment to the picture plane. Davis is severing ties with traditional representation. Curator: Precisely. And it's this emphasis on the intrinsic qualities of the medium that resonates so profoundly today. It's about the power of color and form. Editor: Looking at this, you grasp his emphasis on those qualities even more clearly. A compelling look into his art-making process.