Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Stuart Davis
"Backyards" Early 20th Century Watercolor Fauvism Social Realism American Scene

1911

$100,000
£75,656.87
€87,319.75
CA$139,672.17
A$155,288.78
CHF 81,284.31
MX$1,904,565.42
NOK 1,034,954.83
SEK 977,120.02
DKK 651,608.64
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

"Backyards" Early 20th Century Watercolor Fauvism Social Realism American Scene Note: We have three similar in style works from 1911 available now on 1stDibs. All are framed identically by Bark. The three drawings are shown together on page 452 of the Stuart Davis Catalogue Raisonne, as seen in the attached photos. Stuart Davis (1892-1964) Backyards Watercolor, signed and dated 1911 Sight: 8 25/32 x 9 25/32 inches Framed by Bark: 15 5/8 x 16 3/8 inches LITERATURE: A, Boyajian, M. Rutkowski, Stuart Davis, A Catalogue Raisonne, Vol. 2, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, vol. II, p. 452, illustrated. Provenance: Estate of Joan Bardenheier Harrison, from a proud St. Louis Family of German descent. Her family founded the John Bardenheier Wine and Liquor Company in 1873, later named the Bardenheier Wine Cellars. At its peak, the winery was one of the oldest and largest family owned and operated wineries in the United States. BIO Born in Philadelphia in 1892, Stuart Davis is known by many art historians as the American painter most influenced by Cubism. Art historian Norman Geske described Davis' career as a "near classical demonstration of the process by which American painting of the twentieth century came of age." (40). Davis moved from journalistic illustration to Social Realism, to Expressionism, to Cubism, ultimately becoming one of America's leading abstractionists. Strongly influenced by Fernand Leger and the New York Armory Show of 1912, he developed his own unique style of Cubism, which also incorporated Realism. Along with Max Weber, he is credited with being the importer of Cubism to the United States from France at a time when the public was more interested in Social Realism and American Scene painting with people and places that were recognizable. Through his painting, he pursued a life-long quest of finding a logical set of assumptions from which he could produce a modern picture, and the results were strong, related patterns and compelling color combinations. In addition to paintings, his body of work includes drawings, collages, lithographs, gouaches, and murals. Stuart Davis was born in Philadelphia to artistic parents. His mother was sculptor Helen Stuart Foulke, and his father, Edward Wyatt Davis, was art editor of the Philadelphia Press. Through his father, he had early association with John Sloan and Robert Henri, with whom he studied in New York City from 1910 to 1913. The Armory Show of 1912 dissuaded him from following the realist styles of Sloan and Henri, but he maintained his artistic focus on aspects of the social realism they espoused in that many of his subjects were places such as run-down hotels or apartment interiors. Davis experimented with Cubism, collage, and total abstraction, and eventually settled on a style based on Cubism with much improvisation. In the late 1920s, he lived in Paris in Jan Matulka's studio close to other modernists including Alexander Calder, Isamu Noguchi, and Morris Kantor. Then he returned to New York City, in whose vicinity he spent the remainder of his career. He had a New York City studio and also a studio in Hoboken, New Jersey. From that time, his paintings reflected American experience, especially his love of jazz music, with the modernist styles he employed beginning with the Armory Show of 1913. In the 1930s, he taught at the Art Students League in New York, and he also did murals for the WPA (Works Progress Administration). In the 1940s, he taught at the New School for Social Research. In 1964, he received the first commission by an American artist to design a postage stamp, which was issued six months after his death in that year. His first exhibition was in 1927 and venues included the Phillips Gallery in Washington DC , and the Whitney Museum in New York. In this exhibition, he introduced his landmark "Eggbeater Series", various depictions of an eggbeater, a fan and a glove, with each one increasingly abstract until only pure abstraction remained. A 1998 retrospective of his work was organized by curators of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and its last venue was The National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C.
  • Creator:
    Stuart Davis (1892-1964, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1911
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)
  • Medium:
    Paper,Watercolor
  • Movement & Style:
    American Realist
  • Period:
    1910-1919
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1156213569612

More From This Seller

View All
Answering the Door Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene
By Stuart Davis
Located in New York, NY
Answering the Door Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene Note: We have three similar in style works from 1911 available now on 1stDibs. All are framed identi...
Category

1910s American Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Answering the Door Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene

Stuart Davis
Answering the Door Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene, 1911

$100,000
Two Men on a Street Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene
By Stuart Davis
Located in New York, NY
Two Men on a Street Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene Note: We have three similar in style works from 1911 available now on 1stDibs. All are framed identi...
Category

Early 1900s American Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Two Men on a Street Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene

Stuart Davis
Two Men on a Street Early 20th Century w/c Fauvism Social Realism American Scene, 1911

$100,000
"Cubist Factory" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial
Located in New York, NY
"Cubist Factory" American Scene WPA Era Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial Herbert Heyel (American 1907-2000) "Cubist Factory" 14 x 20 inches Watercolor on paper, c. 1933 S...
Category

1930s American Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Cubist Factory" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial

Herbert Heyel
"Cubist Factory" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial, c. 1933

$3,500
"Streetscape" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial
Located in New York, NY
"Streetscape" American Scene WPA Era Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial Herbert Heyel (American 1907-2000) "Streetscape" 14 x 20 inches Watercolor on paper, c. 1939 Signed l...
Category

1930s American Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Streetscape" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial

Herbert Heyel
"Streetscape" American Scene WPA Social Realism Mid 20th Century Industrial, c. 1939

$3,500
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA
By David Fredenthal
Located in New York, NY
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA. David Fredenthal (1914-1958) "View of New York from New Jersey,"7 x 10 inches. Watercolor on Paper, c. 1948. Signed lower right. David Fredenthal (1914 - 1958) was one ot America's most respected watercolor artists. He was famous for his bold, intensely vigorous and complex paintings and drawings that expressed his deep feeling for excitement with life and living. He was a draftsman with seemingly a special gift for catching anything, physically and emotionally on the spot, and he never went anywhere without three or four loaded pens and a sketchbook in his pocket. As part of the WPA project he executed a number of murals including the Sports Pavilion on the Heinz Building of the New York World's Fair 1939. Some of his fresco and mural techniques were inspired by his friendship with Diego Rivera who had admired and encouraged him in the early 1930's. After he won a traveling scholarship to Europe from The Museum of Modern Art at age 19, he was the recipient of two Guggenheim grants in Painting. He had his first solo exhibition at the Downtown Gallery in New York in 1937 at age 23, and many others after that including the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1947. Because of Fredenthal's prodigious drawing gifts, he was chosen by Erskine Caldwell to illustrate his novel "Tobacco Road...
Category

1940s American Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA

David Fredenthal
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA, c. 1948

$6,000
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
By Max Arthur Cohn
Located in New York, NY
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998) 6th Avenue El at 8th Street 13 x 18 inches Watercolor on paper, c. 1930 ...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century

Max Arthur Cohn
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century, c. 1930

$5,500

You May Also Like

1930s Cheerful Watercolor of a Chicago Street Scene by Constantine Pougialis
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1930s cheerful & colorful watercolor depicting a Chicago Street scene by artist Constantine Pougialis. Image size: 15" x 22". Painting bears its original frame, which measures 21...
Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

1930s Cheerful Watercolor of a Chicago Street Scene by Constantine Pougialis

Constantine Pougialis
1930s Cheerful Watercolor of a Chicago Street Scene by Constantine Pougialis, ca. 1930s

$750
1940's American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Tenement Market
By Samuel Grunvald
Located in Surfside, FL
The Market, (fauvist painting of NYC scene) 1940's. image is 10X 11.5 inches. Hand signed lower right Lower East Side Tenements Pushcart Market Samuel Grunvald was a Hungarian born American WPA artist known for abstract, landscape and seascape paintings. Arrived in the USA from Hungary in 1921 and settled in New York City where he studied at the Art Students League. Grunvald worked for the Federal Art Project, taught at Colony House in NYC. Member: Art Guild, Watercolor Society, New York Watercolor Club. exhibited at Montross Gallery, NYC, World House Galleries, NYC, Leonard Hutton Gallery, NYC, Associated American Artists Gallery and the A.C.A. Gallery. Gunvald's work spanned many modern American movements from the WPA to Abstract Expressionist painting. He was a member of the American Watercolor Society and the Brooklyn Society of Artists. He exhibited with both of these organizations and at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He was involved the the WPA being a Federal Arts Project artist. A number of prominent Jewish artists participated in this New Deal program among them Ben Shahn, Joseph Solman, William Gropper, Philip Guston Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, Milton Avery, Ben Shahn, the Soyers (Isaac, Moses, and Raphael), and many others Grunwald exhibited alongside other popular artists such as Paul Klee, Jean Arp, Max Ernst and Charles Burchfield. He also taught and lectured on art and easel painting, Federal Art Project, NYC. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and The Jewish Museum, New York. Americana. Select Exhibitions A.C.A. Gallery Associated American Artists Gallery, 1936-1955 American Watercolor Society, 1932-1942 New York Watercolor Club, 1935-1937 Humanist Art...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

1940's American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Tenement Market

Samuel Grunvald
1940's American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Tenement Market, c.1940s

$2,500
1940 American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Pushcart Tenements
By Samuel Grunvald
Located in Surfside, FL
Samuel Grunvald was a Hungarian born American WPA artist known for abstract, landscape and seascape paintings. Arrived in the USA from Hungary in 1921 and...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

1940 American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Pushcart Tenements

Samuel Grunvald
1940 American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Pushcart Tenements, c.1940

$1,800
Outdoor View - Original Watercolor on Paper by Caroline Hill - 1970s
By Caroline Hill
Located in Roma, IT
Outdoor View is an artwork realized in the 1970s by Caroline Hill (1935-1983). Original watercolor on paper. The artwork is hand-signed on lower left. Good conditions except for a...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Outdoor View - Original Watercolor on Paper by Caroline Hill - 1970s

Caroline Hill
Outdoor View - Original Watercolor on Paper by Caroline Hill - 1970s, 1970s

$536
Country Life Illustration
By Stuart Davis
Located in Miami, FL
Early work when Stuart Davis was an illustrator. Christie's, New York Catalogue Raisonné
Category

1920s American Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Pencil

Country Life Illustration

Stuart Davis
Country Life Illustration, 1922

$10,500
Country Life
By Stuart Davis
Located in Miami, FL
Early work when Stuart Davis was an illustrator. Christie's, New York Catalogue Raisonné
Category

1920s American Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Pencil

Country Life

Stuart Davis
Country Life, 1922

$10,500

More Ways To Browse

American Scene Paintings
Early 20th Century American Paintings
American Realism Art
American Realism
American Realism Painting
Artist Davis
German Early 20th Century Painting
Social Realism
Wine Cellar Art
Social Realism Painting
Classical Realism Painting
Davis Gray
Early 20th Century Realism Paintings
Paintings Early 20th Century Venice
1930s Collage
American Antique Picture Frames
Robert Harrison
St Leger
View All Popular Figurative Drawings and Watercolors Searches