Artist of the Week: Charles Demuth

American Modernist

Charles Demuth

 (1883-1935)

As a leader of the American Modernist movement, Charles Demuth is best known as a pioneer of the Precisionist style and a master watercolorist. Demuth's Lancaster, Pennsylvania home, now the museum, provided both inspiration and sustenance, and functioned as Demuth's permanent studio location throughout his lifetime. Heralded as a leading light among early American modernist painters, Demuth distinguished himself from his contemporaries in his profoundly-felt renderings of his native Lancaster's factories, grain elevators and churches.

 Self-portrait

1907 

 The Jazz Singer

1916

The Circus

1917

 Turkish Bath with Self-portrait

1918

1919

Essence of a New Church 

 1921

 1924

The Figure 5 in Gold (1928)
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The painting above was inspired by this poem by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) 

The Great Figure Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city

 1931

Resources:

Charles Demuth Museum

GBLT Arts

ARTCYCLOPEDIA 

The Art History Archive

Wikipedia 

Art Knowledge News

Richard Thompson - Dimming Of The Day - California 2005

ABC Wednesday

 I've recently started playing a really cool weekly blog meme called ABC Wednesday, in which participants compose a weekly post based on the letter that week. I posted a couple of my own photographs here, at the Pagan Sphinx and I've since been posting to my photo blog The Pagan's Eye. Since I've had a chance to visit the entries of other participants, I've noticed that people do a lot of creative and interesting things besides post original photographs of something that signifies the letter of the week.

I've decided to post to ABC Wednesday twice; one entry using an original photo at The Pagan's Eye and another here at the Pagan Sphinx, depicting the work of an artist whose name begins with the featured letter.

A simple little art history lesson.  That's the way I like it. The longer I live, the simpler I like to keep things. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our host, whose name I keep not finding (I'm so sorry!) and all of the kind people who have left comments about my humble contributions.

Peace and love,

Pagan Sphinx

J is for Jacometto (Veneziano)

Italian Early Renaissance Painter, active 1472-1497

ABC Wednesday

Surrealistic Sunday

Warning:  this art may not be pretty but pretty is not the point

Just sayin'  ;-)

The work of Martina Hoffmann is classified as Magic Realism, not Surrealism but I tend to take liberties with the title of the feature Surrealistic Sunday. If you read the definition by clicking on the link, you'll see that there is a connection. From my own experience, I have always connected Magic Realism with literature such as that of Gabrielle Garcia Marquez or Jose Saramago. Both authors whose works I find fascinating. It was really interesting to delve into the world of magic realism in art. I hope you enjoy the post.

PS

The Work of 

Martina Hoffmann

 Sphinx

(bronze)

Trancemission

 

 Trancemutation

Inward