Everything about Charles Demuth totally explained
Charles Demuth (
November 8,
1883 -
October 23,
1935) was an
American watercolorist who turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as
Precisionism.
"Search the history of American art," wrote Ken Johnson, in the New York Times, "and you'll discover few watercolors more beautiful than those of Charles Demuth. Combining exacting botanical observation and loosely Cubist abstraction, his watercolors of flowers, fruit and vegetables have a magical liveliness and an almost shocking sensuousness."
Demuth was a lifelong resident of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The home he shared with his mother is now a museum of his work. He graduated from
Franklin & Marshall Academy before studying at
Drexel University and at
Philadelphia's
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. While he was a student at PAFA, he met
William Carlos Williams at his boarding house. The two were fast friends and remained close for the rest of their lives.
He later studied at
Académie Colarossi and
Académie Julian in
Paris, where he became a part of the
avant garde art scene. The Parisian artistic community was accepting of Demuth's
homosexuality.
Career
While he was in Paris he met
Marsden Hartley by walking up to a table of American artists and asking if he could join them. He had a great sense of humor, rich in double entendres and they asked him to be a regular member of their group. Through Hartley he met Alfred Stieglitz and became a member of the Stieglitz group. In 1926, he'd a one-man show at the Anderson Galleries and Intimate Gallery the
New York gallery run by his friend
Alfred Stieglitz.
His most famous painting,
The Figure 5 in Gold (also sometimes called
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold), was inspired by his friend
William Carlos Williams's poem
The Great Figure. This is one of nine poster portraits Demuth created to honor his creative friends. He painted poster portraits for artists
Georgia O'Keeffe,
Arthur Dove,
Charles Duncan,
Marsden Hartley,
John Marin and for the writers
Gertrude Stein,
Eugene O'Neill,
Wallace Stevens and Williams.
In 1927, Demuth started a series of seven panel paintings depicting factory buildings in his hometown. He finished the last of the seven, "After All" in 1933, and died two years later. Six of those paintings are highlighted in “Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuth’s Late Paintings of Lancaster,” a 2007 Amon Carter Museum retrospective of his work, displayed in 2008 at the
Whitney Museum of American Art.
According to the exhibit notes from Carter show, Demuth's will left many of his paintings to his friend Georgia O'Keeffe. Her strategic decisions regarding which museums received these works cemented his reputation as a major painter of the Precisionist school.
Personal life
Demuth suffered either an injury when he was four years old or may have had polio or tuberculosis of the hip that left him with a marked limp and required him to use a cane. He later developed
diabetes and was one of the first people in the United States to receive
insulin. He spent most of his life in frail health, and he died in
Lancaster at the age 51 of complications from diabetes.
Charles used the
Lafayette Baths as his favorite haunt. His 1918 homoerotic self-portrait set in a Turkish Bathhouse is likely to be set there.
Selected works
Image:Demuth_Charles_The_Jazz_Singer_1916.jpg|The Jazz Singer (1916)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Trees_and_Barns_Bermuda_1917.jpg|Trees and Barns Bermuda (1917)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Turkish Bath with Self Portrait_1918.jpg|Turkish Bath with Self Portrait (1918)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Wild_Orchids_1920.jpg|Wild Orchids (1920)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Spring_1921.jpg|Spring (1921)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Incense of a New Church, 1921.jpg|Incense of a New Church (1921)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Aucassiu_and_Nicolette_1921.jpg|Aucassiu and Nicolette (1921)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Zinnias and a Blue Dish with Lemons, 1924.jpg|Zinnias and a Blue Dish with Lemons (1929)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Still Life with Apples and a Green Glass, 1925.jpg|Still Life with Apples and a Green Glass (1925)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Zinnia Bouquet_1925.jpg|Zinnia Bouquet (1925)
Image:Demuth_Charles_My_Egypt_1927.jpg|My Egypt (1927)
Image:Demuth_Charles_I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold_1928.jpg|The Figure 5 in Gold (1928)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Poppies, 1929.jpg|Poppies (1929)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Chimney_and_Watertower_1931.jpg|Chimney and Watertower (1932)
Image:Demuth_Charles_Buildings_Lancaster.jpg|Buildings Lancaster
Image:Demuth_Charles_The Boat Ride from Sorrento.jpg|The Boat Ride from Sorrento
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Charles Demuth'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://charles_demuth.totallyexplained.com">Charles Demuth Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
