Art Theory Text with Sketches 1949

Curator: This is "Art Theory Text with Sketches" by Stuart Davis. It is currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's an energy in its abstraction, yet it feels very personal. The scrawled handwriting and simple sketches are quite direct and feel very visceral. Curator: Davis was deeply engaged in the debates around abstract art. This piece really embodies the Modernist struggle to define art's purpose. Editor: I notice the recurrent motif of abstracted geometric shapes, perhaps a personal iconography evolving on the page. It is almost talismanic. Curator: Yes, the sketches echo his larger canvases, which he developed while writing theory in the 1950's. Editor: The text almost becomes the image itself, a symbol of his dedication to his abstract expression. Curator: It shows the importance of theory in art production. Editor: Exactly, the images and text are all a part of Davis' larger symbolic language.