Art and Nature: New York Water Front by Stuart Davis (1938) (3 of 3)

 Notes and Sources for this Essay on Stuart Davis

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Note 1:  For actual pictures of the NY tug boats and lighthouse, this site offers a few: “New York Tugboats and the Little Red Lighthouse” at Inkwatu. http://inkwatu.com/2008/09/10/new-york-tugboats-and-the-little-red-lighthouse/

Works Used

Arnold, Michael, “Stuart Davis, American Painter, 1894-1964” Simply Art, 2011, http://www.michaelarnoldart.com/Stuart%20Davis.htm,

Bartel, Martin, “An Art Teacher’s Guide to Critique Art Work”, Goshen College, 2008, http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/critique1.html,

Blizzard, Gladys, “Come Look With Me:  Exploring Landscape Art With Children”, Charlesbridge: Watertown MA, 2006

Boddy-Evans Marion, “All About Painting”, About.com, http://painting.about.com/,

Brucato, Bruce Capt, “NY Tugmaster’s Weblog”, 2012, http://captbbrucato.wordpress.com/,

Essak, Shelley, “All About Art History”, About.com, http://arthistory.about.com/,

Jones, Hilton, “New York Tugboats and the Little Red Lighthouse”, INKWATU: Delights Near and Far, 10 September 2008 http://inkwatu.com/2008/09/10/new-york-tugboats-and-the-little-red-lighthouse/,

----, “Notes on Stuart Davis”, Abstract Expressionism, Warholstars.org, 2006, http://www.warholstars.org/abstractexpressionism/artists/davis/stuartdavis.html,

Peltakian, Danielle, “Stuart Davis”, Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 2011, http://www.sullivangoss.com/Stuart_Davis/,

----, “Understanding Formal Analysis”, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2012, http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html,

Art and Nature: New York Water Front by Stuart Davis (1938) (2 of 3)

http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424974671&gid=424974671&cid=117638&wid=425612241&page=33

  The above link will open to the Painting.

However, there is order amid the chaos.  Balance is achieved with the horizontal sign dividing the painting into thirds.  The vertical red-orange main-mast and yellow-orange mast keep the thirds intact.  The left side has the yellow-orange smoke and the right side has the lavender bridge.  The eye is first attracted to the sign, then to the smoke bellowing out, and then finally slides down the guide wire.  Afterwards, the eye circles around to the bridge back to the sign again.  Balance is this circle, which is both constantly dynamic and in perfect harmony.

Repetition in the painting is the squares and rectangles that puncture this circle.  The squares keep rhythm, syncopating with the vertical and horizontal hash marks, that gives depth to the buildings and tug.  These same shapes are repeated to allow the observer to enjoy the scene without being overwhelmed.

Davis’ signature style is to infuse a painting with a jazz rhythm and variety.  The artist himself said that he often painted while listening to jazz music, and that his paintings reflect this in their rhythms.  However, an actual waterfront does lends itself to a staccato beat, with ships are being towed in and out; cargo is being loaded and unloaded.  The rhythm of “New York Waterfront” is supported by the bass beat of the blacks and greys.  The mellow tones of the alto saxophone are the muted reds and oranges.  The trumpet riffs are the bright yellows and whites.  Each element of the painting moves together in the improvisations and broken rhythms of jazz.  The bass beat keeps the painting moving, while the muted colors keep the melody easy and smooth.

In an interview with John Wingate for “Night Beat” in 1956, Davis said, “Well, my attitude toward life is realistic, but realism doesn’t include merely what one immediately sees with the eye at a given moment – one also relates it to past experience…One relates it to feelings, ideas.  And what is real about the experience is the totality of the awareness of it.”  What Davis offers us is not a painting of a waterfront but our encounter with one.  We experience the essence of the waterfront, which ties us to everyone else who have experienced it as well.  The New York waterfront ceases to be a real place, and becomes a part of our being.  

In his painting, Davis gives us hints as to the reality that is the New York waterfront.  First, he paints the tug with the traditional dull red of the New York tugs. Besides the color, the tug has a tall, narrow house, which reaches to the sign.  Since New York tugs used a version of a steam engine, the steam smoke coming out of the smokestack was a common site.  (Other waterfronts used coal, at the time Davis painted his picture.)  Adding to the scene is the Little Red Lighthouse and the George Washington Bridge both which are at the Hudson River.  (The lavender square represents the suspension bridge, while the square red pentagon is the lighthouse.)  With this special knowledge of New York City, we can apply what we know to a scene of jumbled shapes and wild colors to see beyond to what is actually there.  This is augury in art – looking with the inner eye, applying our special knowledge, and divining what is before us.

Like Davis, we can see with our second eye, and relate the painting to the past, present, and future.  Descending into the bones of the painting, we see the tug which is captured in the moment.  What will come next?  Where is the ship going?  Does it matter?  We stick our toe in the stream of time at the nexus of this moment, before things shift and become revealed.  The future for us like the waterfront is fluid, constantly changing.

We go deeper into the core of why a painting of a tug, a lighthouse, a bridge and several buildings.  The tug speaks to the commonality of our daily experiences.  As the workhorses of the harbor, the small tugs take the large tankers safely to the docks and back out.  The lighthouse next to the bridge offers more safety to all who venture forth.  Beyond the lighthouse and bridge are the beckoning windows of warmth and security.  We have arrived to where we need to be – the future.  Like the tug captain, we read the waters, watch for signs of trouble, and practice our art.  We venture forth from the past of the lighthouse into the future of the distant buildings, while being safely guided by our bridge of the present.

Art and Nature: New York Water Front by Stuart Davis (1938) (1 of 3)

Stuart Davis “New York Waterfront” 1938, Gouache on paper

Noted abstract expressionist, Stuart Davis (American, 1894-1964) described his art as stripping an object down to its core, and then painting it as he perceived it.  Davis’ paintings were not factual depictions of a place but its essence.  He stated, “I can work from Nature…In each case, the process consists of transposition of the forms of the subject into a coherent structure.”  Like a diviner, Davis used his inner eye to see beyond the reality before him.

At first “New York Waterfront” seems to be a jumble of odd shapes, strange colors, and alien lines.  However there is an interior logic to this painting.  A visit to a waterfront does seem disjointed, since the activity there is both static and chaotic.  Ships are being towed into wharfs, while others wait to be unloaded.  Small tugs and large tankers are interspersed between warehouses, docks, offices, and factories.  In New York City, the city’s skyscrapers are often seen in the distance.  Looking at the painting again with their second eye, the observer senses the disordered stillness of a place covered with mundane grit and grime.

“New York Waterfront” encourages the observer to see beyond what is there.  Penetrate the jumble and disorganized groups of shapes and lines with the inner eye, and a tug which is billowing smoke emerges.  Focusing on the ship gliding by, the observer begins to see the buildings in the background – the lighthouse, warehouse, skyscraper, as well as the bridge.

Using the elements and principles of art, the observer can discern how Davis accomplished all this with his painting.  Breaking the painting down to its basic elements, and then building it back up through the principles of art, the observer can divine the waterfront as Davis intended.  Since he leaves clues as to the place in the painting, we engage in “augury by art” to find out where.  Furthermore by peering more intently, we can discern more profound meanings in this simple scene.

As an artist, Davis was more interested in form and color than in realistic composition.  In this painting, the vertical lines dominate the background while horizontal ones dominate the foreground.  Two curved lines (guide wires on the tug) sweep down from the ship’s smokestack to its deck.  These curved lines connect the foreground with the background, by directing the eye to look further back.  Meanwhile the vertical and horizontal lines give backbone to the painting, and hold it together.

Emphasizing the man-made qualities of the scene are the rectangles and squares.  Softening their sharp corners are the circles of the tug’s funnels.  Furthermore, Davis adds a natural element to the scene with the shape of the smoke coming out of the tugboat’s smokestack.  Meanwhile, the angular shapes of the tug contrast subtly with the straight ones of the buildings.  Another element softening the verticality of the scene is the horizontal rectangles.  The sign with the curved letters and the rounded shapes add more interest to the painting.

Negative space surrounds the scene, calming the uncontrollable shapes and colors.  Also, this negative space gives a perspective to the painting by allowing the buildings to recede into the background.  The ship is brought to the foreground with the black and white spaces.  Also the empty space alludes to the city beyond in the haze of the off-white color.

The most striking aspect of “New York Waterfront” is Davis’ use of colors.  At first glance, the colors of the painting seem bright and gay.  The cheerful yellows, oranges, reds, and lavenders make the scene throb with energy, conveying the activity of the place.  However, the pure black and white colors, which offset these warm colors, highlight their muted quality.  Then the observer notices that the blue-greys of the tug are actually the brighter colors.  These greys allow the ship to be noticed in the foreground.  The more muted oranges and reds convey the grittiness and drabness of the place.  Overall, the energetic palate of the reds is muted to calm the frenetic activity. 

Art and Nature: The Scream of Nature by Edvard Munch (3 of 3)

The two paintings reflect different times in Munch’s life.  The artist painted the 1893 version whilst in the throes of poverty, drugs, and nihilistic living.  Seventeen years later, Munch had fought his way back from the brink of insanity and perpetual drunkenness.  The 1910 version is his mature perspective looking back on his original experience as a young man.  He divorces his original experience from his emotion.  Now, Munch paints the pure emotions of fear, dread, and insanity.

Edvard Munch said of his art, “It’s not the chair that should be painted, but what a person has felt at the sight of it.”  He wrote about his view on life, “Without anxiety and [mental] illness, I am a ship without a rudder…My sufferings are part of myself and my art.  They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art.”

Reviewing Munch’s artistic statements, I believe that the 1910 version succeeds in what he wanted for his art.  Instead of a graphic representation of the emotions of fear and dread, Munch captures the pure feeling of the soul shattering beyond repair.  The 1910 version draws the observer in and pins them down.  The scream erupts from within us for we are the scream itself.

Unlike the 1893 version, the 1910 painting burrows itself into our inner being.  We cannot separate ourselves from the 1910 version like we can with the 1893 version.  We cannot escape the moment of this painting.  We frantically grasp at the faraway witnesses only to fall back into the abyss.  The scream then erupts from the abrupt breaking of our soul.

Works Used

Bartel, Martin, “An Art Teacher’s Guide to Critique Art Work”, Goshen College, 2008, http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/critique1.html,

---, “Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth”, Art Institute of Chicago, 2011, http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/Munch/index,

Boddy-Evans Marion, “All About Painting”, About.com, http://painting.about.com/,

Brookes, Mona, “Drawing With Children”, G.P. Putnam: New York, 1996.

----, “Edvard Munch – Art History”, Edvard Munch Info, 2011, http://www.edvardmunch.info/,

Essak, Shelley, “All About Art History”, About.com, http://arthistory.about.com/,

Fineman, Mia, “EXISTENTIAL SUPERSTAR: Another look at Edvard Munch’s The Scream”, Slate.com, 22 Nov. 2005, http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2005/11/existential_superstar.html,

---, “Guide to Art History”, ArtHistory.net, 2009, http://www.arthistory.net/,

Janson, H.W. and Dora Jane Janson, “The Story of Painting”, Harry N Abrams: New York, 1966.

Lubow, Arthur, “Edvard Munch: Beyond ‘The Scream’”, Smithsonian Magazine, March 2006, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/munch.html,

----, “Understanding Formal Analysis”, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2012, http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html,

Art and Nature: The Scream of Nature by Edvard Munch (2 of 3)

Negative space is used differently, as well, in the two paintings.  In the 1910 version, positive space overwhelms the painting allowing no rest for the eye.  What negative space that exists highlights the screaming face.  What relief the eye seeks is thwarted by directing it to the unsettling face.  In contrast, the negative space of the 1893 version settles the eye and gives it time to take in the scene.  However, the negative space created by the clothing and sea gives a sense of balance to the screaming face.  These negative spaces allow the painting a sense of gravitas, and cement the incident in our time and space.

In both versions, the emphasis is on the screaming figure.  The straight lines of the path and railing take the eye directly to the figure.  Moving along these lines, the eye becomes focused on the witnesses who seem detached from the scene.  The curved lines then force the eye back to the screaming head.  There is no escaping the agony of the scream from that soul.

Balance is achieved by the three point triangle of the two witnesses, the bulge of the sea, and the screaming figure.  (In buildings, triangles provide the greatest stability to structures.)  However, this triangle of the painting is inverted with the apex as the screamer.  Since the triangle is inverted, a sense of unease and precariousness permeates the painting.  However the triangle does create a sense of unity to the picture.  It settles the observer enough to see the scene and feel its impact.  The triangle also solidifies the proportions of the art work which are slightly askew.  Because of its inverted qualities, the triangle fools the eye into believing that everything is natural relative to each other.  Also, it allows a certain sense of calmness to pervade the artwork.

Also, the two versions differ greatly in their rhythms.  Although their patterns are similar with alternating light and dark stripes, each one pulsates at a different tempo.  In the 1893 version, the colors move quietly much like a mellow jazz tempo with the riffs being the circles around the screamer’s head and the point of land in the sea.  In addition, the straight lines provide the solid bass tempo, whilst the crashing waves give the staccato beat.  The witnesses act as a counterpoint to the screaming figure.  The rhythm of the 1893 version is calm but relentless.

The rhythm of the 1910 version reminds me of the music of Bella Bartok (Hungarian, 1881-1945).  The pulse is not the usual 4/4 time but a freakish 5/4 time.  It is contains dissonant rising and falling along with the cacophony of music.  There is a melody but it is one of the twelve-tone scale rather than the customary eight-tone one.  The eye and the ear find it hard to follow, but they are impelled to do so.  The waves of blues and purples crash against the oranges and yellow greens of the path.  The witnesses become loud cymbals to emphasize the screaming face.  The straight lines provide the bass rhythm that throbs under the wild syncopation of the curving lines.  The rhythm increases in volume until the observer is drawn into pounding essence of the screaming.  Then the scream erupts inside of the observer, and overwhelms them. 

Both versions focus on the anguish of the soul with the two on-lookers as witnesses to its breaking.  Because the 1893 version placed the incident in the here and now, the artwork attains a certain sense of gravitas.  The 1893 version reflects Munch’s own anguish of his own soul cracking open.  We feel as Munch did at that place and moment of time.  Moreover, the dark tones of the colors give a factual grounding for his time of panic.

In contrast, the 1910 version has no details for us to grab onto.  The swirling clouds and abstract sea combine to convey a sense of free floating anxiety.  The two witnesses become black crows ready to feast on the shattering soul.  The lack of facial features and the dramatically waving lines gives this emotion of total despair an otherworldliness.   The straight lines running through the screaming figure pierce the soul and pin it down.  The swirling, wavy figure then becomes us.