Provenance
Marie Sterner [1880-1953], New York, NY, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (?–1926); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 21, 1926–)
Accession Number
1926.16
Medium
watercolor
Dimensions
Sheet: 24.8 x 33 cm (9 3/4 x 13 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Tags
Drawing Early Modern (1901–1950) Watercolor American Color: Yellow Color: Brown
Background & Context
Background Story
Randall Davey (1887-1964) was an American painter known for the boldly composed, colorful paintings of New Mexico subjects that make him one of the most important painters of the early Santa Fe art colony. The Reservoir from c. 1907-26 depicts a reservoir in the boldly composed, colorful manner that distinguishes Davey's best work from the more conventional painting of his contemporaries. Davey studied with Robert Henri and was one of the first artists to settle in Santa Fe, where he produced the boldly composed, colorful paintings of New Mexico subjects that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
The Reservoir is important in the history of American regional painting because it demonstrates the boldly composed, colorful manner that Davey brought to New Mexico subjects as one of the most important painters of the early Santa Fe art colony. Davey's boldly composed, colorful paintings—combining the Henri tradition of bold composition with the colorful landscape of New Mexico—represent one of the most distinctive traditions in American regional painting, and the c. 1907-26 painting shows this tradition at its most boldly composed.
Why It Matters
The Reservoir is Davey's bold Santa Fe painting: a reservoir rendered in the colorful manner of one of the most important painters of the early Santa Fe art colony. The c. 1907-26 painting shows the combination of bold Henri composition with colorful New Mexico landscape that made Davey one of the most distinctive painters of the Santa Fe colony.
