In late 1921, when he was about to turn twenty-nine, Stuart Davis made this list of three variables a painter must address when facing a blank canvas: subject, forms, and visual organization. Their effective resolution will result in a “logical, clean cut piece of work.” Failure, as Davis reminded himself, carried consequences: “The experience of getting a picture almost completed and then being left with an undesirable space is a soul-destroying ordeal.” (Davis’s complete diary for 1920–22—with its many numbered lists—is available here.)
Stuart Davis (1892–1964), autograph manuscript diary, May 1920–28, November 1922. Purchased on the Young Associates Fund; MA 5062. © Stuart Davis / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.