Stuart Davis

Mr. A.  Rotbart (SD Photograph Archives)
Sale:  Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, March 23, 1961, no. 40 (as "They Bring Me A Token of Myself")
Acquired by the family of the present owner from the above sale

Playboy Magazine, no. 1, 1919, p. 27, illustrated
Ani Boyajian, Mark Rutkoski, Stuart Davis:  A Catalogue Raisonne, New Haven, 2007, p.463, no. 966, illustrated

Condition Report from Julius Lowy (dated 12/15/10) reads as follows: "The artwork is a watercolor painting executed on paper which is age appropriately oxidized. The versoof the support displays Japanese paper patches along the left, right and bottom edges covering a tear in the upper right corner, and acting as reinforcements for weaker areas and losses in the paper. There is also a small puncture just right of the bottom edge as well as a weak and brittle lower left corner. The watercolor and pencil media layers are in stable condition. Ultraviolet examination reveals a normal florescence of artist pigments and no visible restoration. The painting has a light layer of surface dirt..." while pigment and detail retention are good, sheet has faded with time; edges are intact overall--although upper corners are worn and repaired with Japanned paper on verso (part of upper right corner is missing); sheet is hinged, verso, with white paper tape to backing
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The title of the present work is a line from Walt Whitman's poem Song of Myself, one of his seminal collection of 12 poems, Leaves of Grass.
In 1912, Davis was enrolled as a student at the Robert Henri School of Art and following his teacher's instruction, looked to the life around him for inspiration in his work.  Along with his friends and fellow classmates, Glen O. Coleman and Henry Glintenkamp, he walked the streets of New York and the cities of New Jersey, recording what he saw in drawings, watercolors and paintings.  The present figural composition in which a crowd is assembled in an urban setting is a fine and typical example of Davis' work at this time. (Ani Boyajian and Mark Rutkoski, Stuart Davis:  A Catalogue Raisonne, New Haven, 2007, vol. one, p. 127)