Stuart Davis. Lucky Strike. 1921

Stuart Davis Lucky Strike 1921

  • MoMA, Floor 5, 509 The David Geffen Wing

Davis typically painted local modern subjects in rhythmic compositions with bold colors. Among his sources of inspiration were “skyscraper architecture; the brilliant colors on gasoline stations; chain store fronts and taxicabs” and jazz music. Long before postwar artists mined the world of trademark brands, Davis incorporated imagery from logos, commercial signage, and packaging into his paintings, such as the branded bag of tobacco in Lucky Strike. Championed by the visionary dealer Edith Halpert at her Downtown Gallery, Davis’s work was met with both enthusiasm and confusion despite being engaged with the stuff and forms of modern life in New York in the 1920s.

Gallery label from 2020
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
33 1/4 x 18" (84.5 x 45.7 cm)
Credit
Gift of The American Tobacco Company, Inc.
Object number
132.1951
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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