Torso and Head of Two Figures 1928

Stuart Davis made 'Torso and Head of Two Figures’ with ink on paper. It looks like he was feeling his way through the shapes and forms as he worked. The stark black ink laid onto the grid patterned paper is so bold. You can almost feel the weight of the ink as it pools in certain areas, and its flatness in others. The heavy angular shapes suggest bodies without really describing them. Note that curving, almost calligraphic line that suggests an arm, or maybe it is just a line? I love how the overall flatness of the design is contradicted by moments of perspective. Davis seems like he was interested in deconstructing what he saw, but then rearranging it in ways that were visually exciting. You can see a similar language in the work of Patrick Caulfield, who also uses bold outlines and flat planes of color, reducing the world to its most graphic essence. It's cool when artists take apart the world and show it back to us in pieces; it allows for a whole lot of open-ended interpretations!