Color-Space Diagrams 1941

Editor: This is Stuart Davis' "Color-Space Diagrams" from 1941, located at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a mixed media piece on paper. It kind of looks like a blueprint, but for color. What does it tell us about art's place in culture? Curator: It suggests how artists were seeking to systematize and intellectualize color theory, influenced by scientific models, and how the formalist exploration of color was becoming a dominant discourse in art institutions. What role did Davis see for himself in this development? Editor: So it's less about pure expression and more about art becoming a kind of research? I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. Curator: Exactly! Davis positions himself as a researcher, charting the relationship between art and the intellectual pursuits of his time. It makes me wonder how his work was received by the public back then. Editor: This gives me a new perspective on how artists can engage with the world around them. Thanks!