Return Stuart Davis 1892–1964 or Wyatt Davis 1906–1984   Stuart Davis committed himself to absorbing the lessons of European modernism in the wake of the groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show. In the 1920s he embraced cubism, turning its formal vocabulary to American subjects. In 1927, about the time this portrait was made, Davis embarked upon his highly abstracted "Eggbeater" series, remarking nearly twenty years later that "you may say everything I have done since has been based on that eggbeater idea." In this drawing, either a self-portrait or a depiction of his younger brother Wyatt, Davis suppresses individual characteristics to create a representative image of the young American male, complete with tie and fedora. A geometric framework undergirds the head. Here, one can discern Davis's process of building up the face from a combination of geometric volumes—spheres, cylinders, and polygons. He then drew a heavy outline over the structure, molding it to fit human contours. Stuart Davis (1892–1964) Graphite on paper, circa 1927 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Estate of Stuart Davis/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Return

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