Born in New Jersey, Stuart Davis was the son of Helen Stuart Foulke, who was a sculptor and Edward Wyatt Davis, who was an art editor. He seemed destined for a career in the fine arts and put much effort towards this. His interest in art, particularly drawing, was apparent by age of 16, when he began writing adventure stories for his younger brother Wyatt. He was also illustrating the books. Davis seemed to have inherited his talent from his father who worked for Newark Evening News as the cartoonist and art editor. Davis’ family moved to New Jersey from Philadelphia. New Jersey was fortuitous for his artistic development; more so because it put him in close contact with many artist-reporters who, since the 1890s, had been working with his father. Davis started attending Orange High School in 1909.
Unfortunately, he dropped out of school the same year and began commuting to New York City and joined the Robert Henri School of Art, where he studied painting at. His parents chose to encourage him to pursue his training rather than reprimand him for this seemingly brash move. Davis studied under the competent care of a family friend called Henri, who was leading figure in the Ashcan School - the American Realist movement. Davis produced attractive works with pulsating, bold colors and planes that are angular interject and mimic the jarring jazz music rhythms and the cacophony of sounds. Davis was one of the first artists to consider swing and jazz music in conjunction with painting.
