Impression of the New York World’s Fair (mural study, Communications Building, World’s Fair, Flushing, New York)

Stuart Davis, Impression of the New York World's Fair (mural study, Communications Building, World's Fair, Flushing, New York), 1938, gouache on paperboard, sheet: 14 ³⁄₄ x 22 ¹⁄₈ in. (37.5 x 55.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the United States Information Agency through the General Services Administration, 1995.27

Artwork Details

Title: Impression of the New York World’s Fair (mural study, Communications Building, World’s Fair, Flushing, New York)
Artist: Stuart Davis
Commissioner: Harper's Bazaar
Date: 1938
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 14 ³⁄₄ x 22 ¹⁄₈ in. (37.5 x 55.9 cm.)
Credit Line: Transfer from the United States Information Agency through the General Services Administration
Mediums: gouache
Mediums Description: gouache on paperboard
Classifications: Painting
Highlights: 20th Century
Subjects: Cityscape — New York — New York
Abstract — geometric
Object Number: 1995.27
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1995.27

Artwork Description

This work is the only surviving design of the artist’s demolished mural for the Communications Building at the World’s Fair held in Flushing, New York, in 1939. This gouache was originally commissioned by Harper’s Bazaar magazine for its February 1939 issue. Impression of the New York World’s Fair is an interpretation of various architectural elements at the fair, such as the Perisphere and the Trylon, and of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee at center stage.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009