Landscape with Clay Pipe

Vivid color and the lively interaction of abstracted forms convey a raucous mood in this small landscape. The work was created during a transitional period in Stuart Davis's art when he turned from a relatively restrained Cubist aesthetic to one more closely aligned with decorative impulses. The clay pipe, gas station, and barber pole reprise the principal elements of his 1932 mural for the Radio City Music Hall Men's Lounge at Rockefeller Center, originally entitled Men without Women. Here, however, the symbols of masculine activity register with a colorful vitality that fulfills Davis's aims for an art that was truly American in its outlook.