Art Theory Text with Plus and Minus Coordinate Diagram c. 1939

Curator: This is Stuart Davis’s "Art Theory Text with Plus and Minus Coordinate Diagram" held in the Harvard Art Museums collection. It's a work on paper, full of the artist's handwritten notes and diagrams. Editor: It strikes me as both assertive and vulnerable. The text is so declamatory, yet the handwriting seems almost hesitant, personal. Curator: Davis was deeply engaged with abstract art’s social and political implications. He believed art should reflect modern life, connecting internal experience with external reality. Editor: You can see Davis grappling with ideas around color, reality, and the role of the artist. It challenges us to consider the relationship between perception and representation, and art’s purpose within society. Curator: Precisely. The act of writing, the very hand that composes these ideas, is central to his understanding of art making. Editor: Davis's exploration of these themes is fascinating. It gives us insight into how much art exists in a continuous conversation with the world around it.