Field Diagrams 1941

Editor: Here we have Stuart Davis' "Field Diagrams," date unknown, at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a simple sketch on paper, quite modest. What do you see in this piece that might tell us more about Davis's process? Curator: For me, the interest lies in Davis's breakdown of visual space into constituent parts, reflecting how materials, like pigment, are applied to a surface. The notations, like "Blue-White Ratio," highlight his focus on the physical elements and their manipulation, rather than illusionistic representation. What kind of labor does it suggest? Editor: It seems almost instructional, a deconstruction. I hadn't thought about the labor involved in planning something like this. Curator: Exactly. It reveals the thought processes behind art-making, challenging notions of artistic genius by emphasizing materiality and method. Editor: So, it shifts our focus from the final image to the act of creation itself. Thanks. Curator: Precisely. It makes you consider the artist as a worker, and the artwork as a product of material processes.