Lauren's Art Discourse

http://www.phillipscollection.org/research/american_art/artwork/Davis_S-Egg_Beater_No4.htm

In Egg Beater No. 4, Davis creates an abstracted image of what is likely an egg beater, that appears almost like a 2-dimensional collage of cut paper through his use of color, line, and overlapping. Throughout the image, Davis used a variety of solid-colored shapes. The use of one flat color for each shape and the lack of shadows and/or highlights throughout the image give the impression of flat planes of color. The use of thin lines throughout the image also serves to flatten the image creating partial outlines within certain color planes. In, some areas, the angling of the lines seems to suggest that the image goes backwards in space, but this apparent 3-dimensionality is contradicted by the flat areas of color that overlap the forms created by the lines. The flat planes of color somewhat mimic the appearance of cut paper and the overlapping of these planes causes the painting to somewhat emulate the appearance of a collage of cut paper.