Saw

Stuart DavisWW-1923-143284

1923·Oil on canvas·94 × 55.9 cm (37 × 22 in.)

<p>In this painting, Stuart Davis presented the saw as a modern icon for the 20th century. It is one of a series of paintings of solitary objects he produced in the 1920s. Here the tool floats in a Cubist composition of flat, abstract planes. The elevation of mundane objects to artistic subjects appealed to modernists like Davis because it signaled a new means of working that was free of art historical associations.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1923
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 94 × 55.9 cm (37 × 22 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Stuart Davis

Artist

Stuart Davis

Painting

Edward Stuart Davis 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.

Philadelphia, PA, USA

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