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For Internal Use Only
For Internal Use Only
For Internal Use Only
DepartmentAmerican Art

For Internal Use Only

Artist (1892 - 1964)
Date1945
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 53 1/2 x 36 in. (135.9 x 91.4 cm) Image: 45 x 28 in. (114.3 x 71.1 cm)
SignedStuart Davis
Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse
Copyright© 2021 Estate of Stuart Davis / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY
Object number1998.2.1
DescriptionStuart Davis’s penchant for combining bright colors and variegated patterns in a spatially dynamic composition is superbly demonstrated in For Internal Use Only. A cool yellow ground dominates a diverse palette of red, greens, lavender, blues, and pinks. Thick black lines divide the space horizontally into two main registers contained within a large rectangle. This framing shape is formed through the intersection of lines at the perimeter of the canvas. The paint is layered thickly with evident brush strokes, the clear mark of the artist. Saturated colors keep the eye moving throughout the composition, creating a visual rhythm in the repetitions of hue and shape. For Internal Use Only, like many of Davis’s paintings, is a response to the jazz music the artist loved.

The painting exemplifies Davis’s mature style, which is clearly rooted in the material world. Through its geometrically structured composition and yellow palette, the painting pays tribute to Davis’s friend Piet Mondrian, known for his primary-colored gridded compositions. Davis and Mondrian, a World War II refugee, frequented jazz clubs in New York. [1] The title references the artist’s memories of Mondrian and how he would miss listening to jazz with his friend, who died in early 1944. The painting contains an abstracted marquee, piano keys, a bowtie, and a black face—all signifiers of the New York boogie-woogie jazz scene. [2] In the 1910s and 1920s, jazz was a popular subject for painters. Artists like Charles Demuth and Archibald J. Motley approached the bustling music clubs through representational portrayals whereas Davis and Mondrian captured the excitement of the jazz through the creation of abstract visual rhythms. According to Davis scholar John Lucas, Davis "began by taking jazz as a subject, sought next to appropriate its devices, and came last to approximate its spirit." [3] Through this creative process, Davis became a master of capturing human experiences in paint.

Notes:
[1] Beatrice Kernan, "Mondrian at MoMA: Mondrian’s New York Years: A Visual Celebration of the City and Boogie-Woogie’s Syncopated Beat," MoMA no. 20 (Autumn 1995), 9.
[2] John R. Lane, Stuart Davis: Art and Art Theory (Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, 1978), 51.
[3] John Lucas, "The Fine Art Jive of Stuart Davis," Arts Magazine 31, no. 10, (September 1957), 33.
ProvenanceTo 1982
Burton G. Tremain, Sr. (1902-1991) and Emily Hall Tremaine (1908-1987), Meriden, CT and New York, NY, purchased from artist through the Downtown Gallery, New York, NY [1]

1982
James Maroney, Inc., New York, NY, purchased from Emily Tremaine on January 3, 1982. [2]

From 1982 to 2008
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York and Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from James Maroney, Inc., New York, NY [3]

From 1998
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, partial and promised gift of Barbara B. Millhouse, full ownership transferred in 2008 [4]

Notes:
[1] James Maroney, Inc. data, object file.
[2] Phone conversation, May 4, 2011, memo in object file.
[3] See note 2.
[4] Deeds of Gift (1998/2008), object file.
Exhibition History1945-1945
Stuart Davis
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (10/17/1945-2/3/1946)

1946
Painting In The United States 1946
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (10/10/1946-12/8/1946)
Cat. No. 116

1947-1952
Painting Toward Architecture (12/1947-5/1952)
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT
and 40 other venues (plus American Tour which included 40 cities)

1949
Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Franklin Watkins: Thirty Paintings (7/28/1949-11/20/1949)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Franciso, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Cat. No. 3

1951
Abstract Painting And Sculpture In America
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1/23/1951-3/25/1951)
Cat. No. 19

1951
An Exhibition Of Contemporary Art
University of Arkansas Art Center, Fayetteville, AR (4/15/1951-5/15/1951)

1951
Amerikanische Malerie Werden Und Gegenwart (9/20/1951-10/24/1951)
Rathaus Schöneberg, Rudolf-Wilde Platz, Berlin, Germany
Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
Cat. No. 25
Exhibited as "Nur Fur Internen Gebrauch"

1952
Loan Exhibition Of Seventy XX Century American Paintings Chosen By Art Critics of 'Art Digest', 'Art News', 'Life', 'Magazine of Art', And 'Time'
Wildenstein Gallery, New York, NY (2/21/1952-3/22/1952)
Cat. No. 1

1952
Alfiere Editori Biennale De Venezia Catalogo
Venice, Italy (6/14/1952-10/19/1952)
Cat. No. 11
Exhibited as "Solo per uso Interno"

1957
Stuart Davis (3/30/1957-11/7/1957)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Cat. No. 16

1965
The Retrospective Exhibition Of Paintings By Stuart Davis And Yasuo Kuniyoshi Being Shown Directly Upon Their Arrival From The 1952 Biennale In Venice
The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY (5/28/1965-11/28/1965)

1965
Stuart Davis Memorial Exhibition
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (5/28/1965-?)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (7/30/1965-8/29/1965)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (?-11/28/1965)
Cat. No. 81

1966
Fifty Years Of Modern Art, 1916-1966
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (6/1966-7/1966)

1968-1970
Art in Embassies: Paris III
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (6/1968-1970)

1973
Pioneers Of American Abstraction
Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, NY (10/17/1973-11/17/1973)
Cat. No. 31

1978
Stuart Davis: Art And Theory
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (1/21/1978-3/19/1978)
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA (4/15/1978-5/28/1978)
Cat. No. 68

1981
Westkunst: Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939 (Western Art: Contemporary Art since 1939)
Museum der Stadt Köln (organizer)
Rheinhallen Messegelände, Cologne, Germany (5/30/1981-8/16/1981)
Cat. No. 21h

1981-1982
Amerikanische/Malerie: 1930-1980
Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (11/1981-1/1982)
Cat. No. 53

1991
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC (4/14/1991)
Shown in lobby for the Eastern Music Festival

1991-1992
Stuart Davis: American Painter
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (11/18/1991-2/16/1992)

2001
Mondrian: The Transatlantic Paintings
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (8/19/2001-11/25/2001)

2010
Figuring Abstraction
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (10/30/2010-10/30/2011)

2016-2017
In Full Swing
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
The DeYoung Musem, San Francisco
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville

2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)

2022
Substrata: The Spirit of Collage in 76 Years of Art
Reynolda House Musuem of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (3/18/2022-7/31/22)
Published ReferencesAbstract Painting And Sculpture In America. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951: no. 19, 149, color illus. 104-5.

Agee, William, Karen Wilkin, Ani Boyajian, and Mark Rutkoski. Stuart Davis: A Catalog Raisonné New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Ager, Cecelia. "Stuart Davis" Vogue 107 (1/15/1946): 126-127.

"A Stream of May Currents" Amepuka 66 (March 1962): color illus. 25.

"Art and Growth of an Abstraction" Time Magazine XLVI:19 (11/5/1945): 58, illus. 59.

"Art for Architecture's Sake: A Shrewd Yankee Corporation Takes up with Abstract Art" Interiors 1072:7 (February 1948): 76-81, 151.

Alfieri Editori XXVI Biennale Di Venezia Catalogo. Venice, 1952: 363-4, no. 11 as "Solo per uso interno".

An Exhibition Of Contemporary Art. Fayettville: University of Arkansas Art, 1951: no. 7 illus.

Blesh, Rudi. Stuart Davis New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1960: 58.

Birmingham, Mary. Dynamic Impulse: The Drawings of Stuart Davis. Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2007.

Burgard, Timothy Anglin. Masterworks of American Painting at the De Young. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2005.

Cahill, Holger. "In Retrospect, 1945-1910" Art News XLIX:13 (10/15-10/31/1945): 24-5, 32.

Cassidy, Donna M. "'Seeing' Musically: The Meanings of Music in 20th-century American Art" Jazz: An American Muse. Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolda House Museum of American Art, 2000: 8.

Coates, Robert M. "Abstraction in America, 1912 to Present" New Yorker (2/3/1951): 55, 57.

Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries: Various Ventures in Modern Art" New Yorker 27 (11/13/1948): 118-119.

"Davis Work at Museum Evaluated" Santa Barbara News Press, Tri County News (8/7/1949).

Fifty Years Of Modern Art, 1916-1966. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966: no. 42 color illus.

Hess, Thomas B. "Introduction to Abstract" Art News Annual 20 (1951): 156, color illus. 152.

Hitchcock, Henry Russell & Barr, Alfred J. Painting Toward Architecture, The Miller Company Collection Of Abstract Art. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1948: 46-47, color illus. 47.

Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mr. Davis, Ralph Earl and Others" New York Times XCX: 32,047 (10/21/1945): Art Section, x7.

Krasne, Belle. "The Modern Presents 37 Years of Abstraction in America" Art Digest 25:9 (2/1/1951): 11, illus. 21.

Loan Exhibition Of Seventy Xx Century American Paintings Chosen By Art Critics Of Art Digest, Art News, Life, Magazine Of Art, And Time. New York: Wildenstein Gallery, 1952: no. 1.

Louchheim, Aline B. "Six Abstractionists Defend Their Art" New York Times Magazine C:33,965 (1/21/1951): Section 6, 16-17, illus.

Lucas, John. "The Fine Art Jive of Stuart Davis" Arts 31:10 (September, 1957): 32-37.

Painting In The United States 1946. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, 1946: illus. pl. 79.

"Painting Toward Architecture" Walker Art Center Activities 3:5 (February 1948): illus.

Rembert, Virginia Pitts. Mondrian, America And American Painting Ph. D. Dissertation: Columbia University, 1970: 307.

Reynolda House Annual Report. Winston-Salem NC: Wake Forest University, 2003.

Riley, Maude Kemper. "Stuart Davis Retrospective" Limited Edition: News And Comment On People And Events In Art L:4 (November 1945): 1-2.

Sargeant, Winthrop. "Why Artists are Going Abstract: The Case of Stuart Davis" Life Magazine 22:7 (2/17/1947): color illus. 81.

"Stuart Davis, Dead at 69, forerunner of Pop Art Depicted Jazzy, Billboard America" The New York Times CXII: 38,870 Late City Edition (6/26/1964): 26L.

Stuart Davis Memorial Exhibition. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1965: 32-33, 42, no. 81, 71, illus. 29.

Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Franklin Watkins: Thiry Paintings. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1949: no. 3.

Stuart Davis: Art And Theory. Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1978: no. 68, illus. 52, 143, illus. 142.

Walker Art Center Calendar (May 1957).

Cooper, Harry and Barbara Haskell. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2016, page 110.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg 42, 43, 44, 47, 51, 52, 53, 174, 234, 235
Status
On view
Collections
Arnold Newman, Stuart Davis, 1941
Arnold Newman
1941
Piet Mondrian
Arnold Newman
1942
John Marin, Downtown, New York, circa 1925
John Marin
circa 1925
Harry Smith, Untitled, 1982
Harry Smith
1982
Romare Bearden, Alto Composite, 1974
Romare Bearden
1974
Lyonel Feininger, Church at Heiligenhafen, 1922
Lyonel Feininger
1922
Philip Pearlstein, Nude on Dahomey Stool, 1975-1976
Philip Pearlstein
1975-1976
Lee Krasner, Free Space (deluxe edition), edition 23/50, 1975
Lee Krasner
1975
Lee Krasner, Free Space (deluxe edition), edition 38/50, 1975
Lee Krasner
1975