Art Theory Text with Space Division Diagram 1930

Curator: This diagram by Stuart Davis, titled "Art Theory Text with Space Division Diagram," offers a glimpse into the artist's spatial reasoning. It's at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels very personal, like a page torn from a sketchbook. Almost like spying on Davis as he worked through an idea. I find the handwriting very intimate. Curator: Indeed. The handwritten notes are key. Davis breaks down how he approaches space, using the "major axis" as a basis for division. It’s like a symbolic roadmap for his compositions. Editor: It reminds me of Mondrian's grids, but less formal. Davis feels looser, more intuitive, despite the apparent geometrical structure. It’s a system, but a very human one. Curator: It’s interesting to see the intersection between the cerebral and the impulsive, which I think is so central to Davis’s broader work. The space itself as a symbol of modernist progress. Editor: Exactly! A tangible link between his theories and his bold, jazz-infused paintings. It sheds so much light on his process.