In 1950, Stuart Davis’ Little Giant Still Life went on view at VMFA as part of an avant-garde American painting exhibition. When the cubist-inflected canvas entered the permanent collection, the museum found itself in the midst of a highly publicized debate between leading New York critics and Virginia traditionalists. This lecture relates the unfolding scandal over what would become one of VMFA’s most celebrated artworks. To date, the painting also remains the most controversial acquisition in the museum’s history.
