Torso and Head of Two Figures 1928

Stuart Davis made this drawing of "Torso and Head of Two Figures" on a sheet of paper, using ink. It's all black and white, a study in contrasts. I imagine Davis moving his hand decisively, blocking out these shapes like a jazz musician riffing on a theme. See how the ink sits flat on the page, almost like cut paper. I bet he was thinking about architecture, about building forms with simple lines and planes. I think the grid underneath is an important part of the work. It helps with the geometry but also shows how we can find an underlying order. The negative space becomes just as important as the black shapes themselves. You know, artists are always in conversation, even across time. I can see how somebody like Ellsworth Kelly might have looked at this work, filing it away, letting it inspire his own exploration of hard-edged forms. Painting is an ongoing experiment, and there is always something more to discover!