Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens 'Stuart Davis: In Full Swing'
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, September 22, 2025


Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens 'Stuart Davis: In Full Swing'
Visa, 1951. Oil on canvas, 40 x 52 in. The Museum of Modern Art, New York; gift of Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon, 1953.



BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presents the exhibition, Stuart Davis: In Full Swing, on view September 16, 2017, through January 1, 2018. Admission to Stuart Davis: In Full Swing is $8 for adults or $12 combined with Chihuly: In the Forest. There is no cost for museum members and youth ages 18 and under.

Stuart Davis: In Full Swing is the first major exhibition in 20 years dedicated to Davis (1892–1964), a key figure in the development of American modern art. The exhibition showcases 86 works that reveal the dynamic, original style of this important American painter. Stuart Davis: In Full Swing was co- organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Crystal Bridges is the final venue for this exhibition. Previous venues include: Whitney Museum of American Art: June 10 – September 25, 2016; National Gallery of Art: November 20, 2016 – March 5, 2017; and the de Young Museum: April 1 – August 6, 2017.

Born in Philadelphia, Davis began as an illustrator of urban life around New York. He was heavily influenced by European Modernists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Fernand Léger and became one of the first American artists to bring the lessons of French avant-garde art into American painting. Davis’s art was also informed by his love of jazz, advertising imagery, and everyday city life, and it blurred the distinctions between high and low art, and between realism and abstraction.

Davis’s first art teacher, Robert Henri, who is represented in Crystal Bridges permanent collection, hooked Davis on painting everyday American urban life and embracing all its aspects; while the poetry of Walt Whitman inspired Davis’s emotional impulse to capture unique American experiences. He created lively, innovative paintings marked by their bold use of colors, shapes, lines, symbols, and words. For Davis, his paintings were an expression of what he called the “American Scene,” and he believed abstract art could convey the energy, tension, and experience of American life in a rapidly changing world.

“Crystal Bridges’ visitors may be familiar with Stuart Davis, with five works from our permanent collection included in the exhibition,” said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges Executive Director and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. “We’re eager to introduce Davis to new visitors as well as share a deeper presentation of his long and complex career, unique practices, influences, and contributions to American culture.”

Beginning with a 1912 self-portrait, Stuart Davis: In Full Swing charts the artist’s development over five decades of artmaking. The exhibition opens with an introductory section featuring an overview of Davis’s career, then documents the evolution of his art by decade, culminating in his final, unfinished canvas, titled Fin (1962-64).

“Davis was a pivotal figure in American modern art, whose work is remarkable for its breadth and inventiveness,” said Margi Conrads, Crystal Bridges Director of Curatorial Affairs. “Living from the horse and buggy era to the space race, Davis’s art was informed by experiencing most of the significant events of the twentieth century. Davis’s expansive vision and unique approach, informed by his enthusiasm for jazz, helped define American art for his generation and beyond.”

Throughout the exhibition, the impact of Davis’s great passion for jazz is evident. A lifelong enthusiast, Davis stated that jazz was the “great American art expression,” with “the same quality of art that [he] found in the best modern painting.” This is especially evident in his paintings after 1940 when he frequently reworked earlier compositions in a way similar to jazz’s concept of variations on a theme, and similarly conveys a uniquely modern sense of dynamism and vibrancy. The structure, rhythm, riffs and repetitions in Davis’s painting derive from his tremendous love of American jazz, especially piano music. The exhibition highlights the jazz rhythms in Davis’s works with the soft sounds of jazz music played in the galleries throughout the run of the exhibition.










Today's News

September 18, 2017

Exhibition focusing on Amedeo Modigliani's early work opens at the Jewish Museum

Tilton Gallery opens an exhibition of new works by Jeff Sonhouse

Auction of new Banksy piece raises £205K for anti arms-fair campaigners

Sotheby's to offer one of the most important candlelit pictures by Joseph Wright of Derby

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens 'Stuart Davis: In Full Swing'

Retired Boeing engineer donates European master prints to the Henry Art Gallery for public access

Stanford's Cantor Arts Center offers a fresh look at Rodin - the modern man

German architect Speer, son of top Nazi, dead at 83

Mnuchin Gallery opens exhibition exploring Minimalism and its legacy in contemporary art

Ketterer Kunst aannounces highlights from its Modern, Post War and Contemporary Art sale

Bartha Contemporary opens Jill Baroff and Stefana McClure's first joint exhibition at the gallery

Art and computing collide in Pink Art, an exploration of color at Williams College Museum of Art

Sotheby's Hong Kong announces highlights from its Important Watches Autumn Sale

New auction house Farnon & Lake lifts the curtain with a thrilling sculpture sale

New York State Museum opens first phase of Erie Canal exhibition

Spink London announces highlights from the second instalment of the Arthur Gray Collection

Galerie Guido W. Baudach opens exhibition of works by Markus Selg

Haus der Kunst opens exhibition of works from the Goetz Collection

Thomas Erben opens first solo exhibition with Oslo-born, Brooklyn-based painter Hanneline Røgeberg

Exhibition incorporates sculptural installations, performance, video, and works on paper by Tamar Ettun

Wilding Cran Gallery opens a solo exhibition of work by Ariana Papademetropoulos

Bayne Peterson's second solo exhibition with Kristen Lorello on view in New York

Cuban painting exhibit by Joseph Milazzo opens in Brooklyn




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 




Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)


Editor: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful