Stuart Davis

Stuart Davis and the rhythm of the city

The colour is flat and loud, the edges are hard, and the space is compressed until the whole surface reads as one graphic statement. Nothing recedes into the distance; everything sits on the same plane and argues with its neighbour.

That flatness is what makes his work so good as a poster: there is no depth to lose when the image is printed at wall size.

What to expect from the prints

Most of the collection comes from his paintings and from the exhibition posters made around them — street corners reduced to outline, jazz clubs built out of overlapping shapes, words used as form.

If you like the graphic half of his work, the iconic collection holds the same kind of confidence; if you like the drawing, look at Klee.

Where it works

A plain wall, a room that already has plenty going on, or a space that other pictures make look fussy. Davis holds up beside strong furniture because he never asks to be the only thing in the room.

50×70 cm is the natural size. 70×100 cm turns the picture into the wall — good above a low sofa, less good in a corridor.

Two of his posters sit well together: the flat colour holds a pair without the wall looking busy. If you want a third voice in the same room, the iconic prints and the music collection come from the same visual world.

Sizes, paper and delivery

Pigment print on 210 gsm Hahnemühle paper, 30×40 to 70×100 cm plus A3 and A2, frame not included. Dispatch within 24 hours, 3–5 working days in the EU, tracked.

More from the same period: Bauhaus, and the Le Corbusier prints.