DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/3N8N-4458
Defense Date
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Art History
First Advisor
Robert Hobbs
Second Advisor
Kathleen Chapman
Third Advisor
Babatunde Lawal
Fourth Advisor
Mary Beth Reed
Abstract
This dissertation provides the first in-depth examination of American artist Stuart Davis’s early theoretical writings made between 1918 and 1923. These writings are seminal documents in his artistic development. They lay the foundation for the creation of some of his most important works, inlcuding his groundbreaking Tobacco paintings of 1921 to his renowned Egg Beater series of 1927–1928, which Davis claimed set the direction for all his subsequent artistic output. One of the key ideas in these early writings is Davis’s concept of realism. This study traces the origin of Davis’s realism to his interaction with a network of ideas arising from cubism, symbolism, New York dada, and anarchist philosophy. In doing so, this study considers how Davis’s notion of realism informed both the development of his style and his iconography in his works of the 1920s.
Rights
© Timothy Garland Andrus, 2016
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
12-7-2016
Included in
American Art and Architecture Commons, Modern Art and Architecture Commons, Painting Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons