Art Theory Text with Directional Color-Space Diagram 1941

Curator: Here we have Stuart Davis' "Art Theory Text with Directional Color-Space Diagram." It’s a sketch, roughly 28 x 21 centimeters, held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: My first impression is that it resembles a page from a mathematician’s notebook, filled with cryptic diagrams and handwritten notes. Curator: Davis was fascinated by abstracting visual language, and his notes reveal an attempt to systematize relationships between colors and spatial arrangements. Editor: Right, so it’s all about how Davis grapples with the materials of painting itself: color, form, composition—a peek into his process. The labor behind abstraction. Curator: Absolutely. It’s fascinating to see how he tries to codify his artistic intuition into a sort of visual science. It also shows how art making is part of cultural production. Editor: I agree. For Davis, it’s never just about aesthetics, but about the tangible work and the thought invested in creating something new. Curator: Indeed. A glimpse behind the curtain, revealing the intellectual groundwork beneath his vibrant canvases. Editor: Precisely, and a reminder that even the most abstract art is rooted in material considerations.