When one thinks of art, various concepts may come to mind ranging from the Black Square by Malevich to Ginevra by Leonardo De Vinci, and few would dare to portray and present banal objects as pieces of art. Stuart Davis, a bold representative of modern art, has proved that objects ordinary as a saltshaker, Odol, or a mellow pad may be viewed as items pertaining to modern art and furthermore be exhibited in museums.
Although Davis was associated with abstract concepts, he insisted on being considered a realist (Stokes 13). When Davis talked of his paintings he said that he was an American to the bone, he studied in America, and he painted what he saw in America’s daily life (Doss 116). His words truly relate to the quality of his paintings which are widely different from those found in Europe. An art lover might wonder what moved Stuart Davis to portray daily life as it is. Travis said that he was moved by skyscrapers, storefronts, trains, cars, planes and taxi cabs, and even electric signs (Jopp par.3). When Davis felt there was more to learn, he traveled to Paris where he familiarized himself with European Art and incorporated some of its elements into his painting (“Stuart Davis” par 4).
The Salt Shaker displayed in the Museum of Modern Arts in New York presents interest for art lovers. It is an oil-on-canvas painting, credited as the Gift of Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert. Painting dimensions are impressive for a Salts Shaker, 49 by 32 inches allowing even for tiny details to be seen. The Salt Shaker is seen differently by people and if one is not told that he is actually looking at a Salt Shaker, he might regard it differently. For some, the frothy, white background and black dots on it, the colored vessel may give the viewer an impression of a cup of coffee from your local coffee shop.
Upon closer examination, an observant viewer may notice that the dots, in fact, represent tiny holes for sifting salt. Another thing that complicates the viewer’s perception lies in the colors of the Salt Shaker. Most Salt Shakers are made from glass, metal, or wood, although Davis himself noted that the one he had painted bears an exact resemblance to the Salt Shaker from a café in Paris (Strokes 213). The bifurcated yellow-and-white sphere above the Salt Shaker is most probably ahead of a lid. It also has two holes, black on yellow and white on black semisphere, which serve for the passage of salt.
The Salt Shaker itself is contained in a second, bigger vessel. This form might be a container for pepper. Standing closer to the picture, the viewer will definitely notice the strokes of paint, which might be lost in reproduction. The big letter ‘S’ across the Salt Shaker perhaps represents the world ‘salt’. The painting has three horizontal red strokes of paint of various lengths and a red dot above them. It is hard to decipher and guess what was on the artist’s mind when he added them to the painting. There are two black arrows at the bottom of the shaker, one pointing up and the other pointing to the white corner. They may imply the directions the meaning of which only the painter himself might have explained. In the painting’s left bottom corner, the artist left his signature, Stuart Davis.
The Salt Shaker is a prominent example of how most ordinary and banal items may be turned into major art pieces. Not only is the artist popular in the US, his homeland, but also in Paris where his exhibitions are regularly organized, with the latest one featuring Davis’ works in 2014 (“Two Americans in Paris: Stuart Davis and Grant Wood” par. 2). Davis is also popular among contemporary Americans and many of them run blogs featuring the artist’s works and contributions (Saith par.1).
Works Cited
A. Jopp, Alexandra. n.d.Stuart Davis (1892–1964) n.d. Web.
Doss, Erika. Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism: From Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism, Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1995. Print.
Encyclopedia of World Biography 2004, “Stuart Davis “. Web.
Saith, Seth 2015, Stuart Davis: Modern Before His Time — an Art Exhibition in a Blog Post (On a Groundbreaking American painter). Web.
Stokes Sims, Lowery. Stuart Davis: American Painter, Washington: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991. Print.
Two Americans in Paris: Stuart Davis and Grant Wood. n.d. Web.