Artist
Stuart Davis (American, 1892–1964)American, 1892–1964
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Gloucester Harbor
Date1938
Place depictedGloucester, Massachusetts, United States
MediumOil on canvas, mounted on panel
DimensionsCanvas: 23 1/16 × 30 1/8 in. (58.6 × 76.5 cm)
Frame (outer): 28 7/8 × 36 1/8 × 1 3/4 in. (73.3 × 91.8 × 4.4 cm)
Frame (outer): 28 7/8 × 36 1/8 × 1 3/4 in. (73.3 × 91.8 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Agnes Cullen Arnold Endowment
Object number77.330
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
American ArtObject Type
World’s Fair, Gloucester Harbor epitomizes
Stuart Davis’s jazz-inflected renditions of
the American landscape. Davis had first
visited the seaport town outside of Boston
in 1915, and over the following two decades
it became an ever-evolving theme through
many of his paintings. Here he captures the
bustling activity of a working harbor with
staccato blocks of color, its sense of motion
heightened by the irregular frame within the
frame so that the composition resembles a
pennant waving in the breeze.
ProvenanceThe artist; Mr. and Mrs. John Hammond, New York; [Washburn Gallery, New York]; purchased by the MFAH, 1977
Exhibition History"American Art Today," New York World's Fair, 1939.
"Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis," Cincinnati Modern Art Society, October 24–November 24, 1941.
"Stuart Davis," Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1945.
"A Permanent Heritage: Major Works from the Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 23, 1980–January 4, 1981.
"Modern American Paintings," Alexandros Soutzos Museum, National Gallery, Athens, September 20–November 7, 1982.
"Direction and Diversity: Twentieth Century Art in the Museum Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 20–25, 1987; May 21–September 3, 1988.
Display at residence, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Elkins, Jr., May 26–Sep. 1, 1989.
"Stuart Davis: American Painter," Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 18, 1991–February 16, 1992; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, March 24–June 7, 1992.
"Painters of Cape Ann, 1840-1940: One Hundred Years in Gloucester and Rockport," Spanierman Gallery, New York, April 13–June 22, 1996.
"Direction and Diversity: Twentieth Century Art in the Museum Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 21–September 3, 1988.
"American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, de Kooning and their Circle, 1927-1942," Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, June 9–August 19, 2012; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, September 21–December 30, 2012.
"Stuart Davis: In Full Swing," Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, September 16, 2017–January 1, 2018.
"Portrait of a Place," Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts, July 22–October 16, 2023. (OL.1556)
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Lower right, recto, in brown paint: STUART DAVIS
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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