Davis, Stuart (1894-1964)

US abstract painter. Much of his work shows the influence of both jazz tempos and cubism in its use of hard-edged geometric shapes in primary colours and collage. In the 1920s he produced paintings of commercial packaging, such as Lucky Strike (1921; Museum of Modern Art, New York), that foreshadowed pop art.

His early abstracts reflect the impact of cubism, and he was deeply influenced by the Armory Show in New York 1913. He often used numbers or letters as the focus for his compositions.