Deborah, a friendly tourist from New Zealand, was in synch with American modernism at the Whitney Museum exhibit, “Stuart Davis: In Full Swing.” Pictured here before Davis’s “Egg Beater No. 2” (1928), she looks like she’s stepped out of the painting. She seemed pleased when I pointed out the resemblance between her dress and the abstract work.
I’m reminded of the adage Life Imitates Art from a dialogue by Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying,” where the character Vivian says:
“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life, and I feel sure that if you think seriously about it you will find that it is true. Life holds the mirror up to art…”
Hmmmm. Be the mirror?
In this exhibit, there are 100 Davis works to try on! Comment here and let us know how it feels.
Why did Davis paint a series of Egg Beater paintings? As the Whitney states, he liked to show, “….the wonder and joy that can be derived from the color and spatial relationships of everyday things.” I actually like Davis best for his simple and colorful geometric depictions of places like Paris and New York. Some of these are on exhibit as well through 9/25/16.
(In this blog I hope to have a conversation about the REACTIONS of VIEWERS LIKE YOU to art, including works you choose. So please react here and send me some of your favorite or least favorite art with a brief note in the comment.) Thanks.
The Art on the Wall 
Love that you pointed out how in sync I was with this glorious work. It made us look more closely at form, colour and pattern. At the Guggenheim, another patterned dress I was wearing jumped out of a Moholy- Nagy work, ditto at the Moma while viewing a Van Gogh!
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Deborah, you have great taste!
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