Edward Stuart Davis (December 7, 1892 – June 24, 1964) was an American modernist painter. He was associated with early twentieth-century American modernism, including the Ashcan School, and later developed a style characterized by bold color, jazz references, and urban subject matter. In the 1930s, Davis became politically active and participated in federally sponsored art programs during the Great Depression.
Early life and education
Davis was born Edward Stuart Davis on December 7, 1892, in Philadelphia to Edward Wyatt Davis, art editor of The Philadelphia Press, and Helen Stuart Davis, sculptor. Davis began his formal art training under Robert Henri, the leader of the Ashcan School, at the Robert Henri School of Art in New York in 1912. During this time, Davis befriended painters John Sloan, Glenn Coleman and Henry Glintenkamp.
In 1913, Davis was one of the youngest painters to exhibit in the Armory Show, where he displayed five watercolor paintings in the Ashcan school style.
In the show, Davis was exposed to the works of a number of artists including Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Following the Armory Show, Davis increasingly engaged with modernist styles, including cubism. During the 1920s, he developed a mature aesthetic characterized by abstracted still lifes and landscapes. His use of commercial imagery, including cigarette packages and advertisements, has been cited as anticipating later developments in Pop art.
In the 1930s, he became more politically active. According to Cécile Whiting, he sought to "reconcile abstract art with Marxism and modern industrial society". In 1938, he painted Swing Landscape, a large-scale mural that has become one of his best-known works.
thumb|left|US postage stamp of 1964 featuring 'Detail Study for Cliche' by Stuart Davis
From 1945 to 1951, Davis worked on The Mellow Pad, an abstract painting inspired by jazz. In 1952, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He later taught at the New School for Social Research and at Yale University.
Following his death in 1964, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp featuring his work Detail Study for Cliche, the first abstract design used on a United States postage stamp.
Personal life
In 1928, Davis traveled to Paris, where he painted street scenes and further engaged with European modernism. In 1929, he married Bessie Chosak. She died in 1932 following complications from an abortion.
In 1938, Davis married Roselle Springer. He died of a stroke in New York City on June 24, 1964, at the age of 71.