The home and studio of Charles Demuth. (Walking through History).

The home and studio of Charles Demuth. (Walking through History). No collection of paintings by 20th-century American artists wouldbe complete without one by Charles Demuth Charles Demuth (November 9, 1883 - October 23, 1935) was an American Precisionist painter.Demuth was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and studied at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. (1883-1935). Art critic Noun 1. art critic - a critic of paintingscritic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art andhistorian Robert Hughes Robert Hughes may refer to:Politicians Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside (born 1932), British Labour politician, MP for Aberdeen North Robert Gurth Hughes (born 1951), British Conservative politician, MP for Harrow West includes discussion of Demuth's artwork onseveral pages in his book, American Visions (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999),where we find a reproduction of one of his most well-known paintings, ISaw the Figure Five in Gold, 1928. This painting was the artist'shomage and tribute to a poem by his friend, William Carlos Williams. Both the poem and the painting scream like bold and brassy firetrucks as they herald a new interest in the art of the early20th-century city. Hughes sees this painting as a precursor of pop art,a product of the precisionist school of painters, which includes MardsenHartley, Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Sheeler Charles Sheeler (July 16 1883 – May 7 1965) is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.Born in Philadelphia, he first studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. . Precisionism markeda new era in the development of American art because it celebratedAmerican industry, the modern city and the advancement of technology.Demuth was a pioneer of this movement. We found the Demuth House, an 18th-century structure, now a museumgallery/garden, located at 120 East King Street, in Lancaster, Pa., inthe heart of the city and one block east of Penn Square. It is open tothe public and is free of charge. The Demuth Foundation restored it tothe early 20th-century appearance, the time period when Demuth lived andpainted there. The home is one of the oldest in Lancaster, having beenbuilt in the latter half of the 18th century and serving as a tavern inthe Colonial period Colonial Period may generally refer to any period in a country's history when it was subject to administration by a colonial power. Korea under Japanese rule Colonial America See alsoColonialism . Next door to the house, located at 114 East King Street, we visitedthe Demuth Tobacco Shop, which was founded in 1770 by Christopher Demuthand passed down through the family hands for over 200 years. Itcontinues to operate as a retail business selling tobacco products andsupplies and is the oldest tobacco shop in America. The shop currentlyshowcases a collection of antique firemen's parade hats andhelmets. We entered the garden at the Demuth home through an arched brickpassage on the side of the house. The garden was a source of inspirationfor many of his paintings, providing blooms from April through November.The charming Victorian garden was tended by the artist's mother,Augusta. Demuth created most of his art in a small second-floor studio ofhis home. The second-floor parlor is currently being used as a galleryfor art and educational exhibits. We saw some of his sketchbooks fromabout 1895 displayed in his studio, perhaps used by him as exercisebooks for art lessons with either Miss Letty Purple or Miss MarthaBowman. These drawings and paintings were executed in pencil, ink andopaque paint in commercially available sketchbooks of the time. Theimages lean toward floral subjects, although humorous cartoon-likefigures, as well as birds and insects are found in fewer numbers. Eachpicture was carefully drawn with pencil and then color was added, muchas his mature artwork was done. His mother kept these books in herpossession until after Charles' death. Young Charles also learnedto paint china from Miss Purple, making gifts for special friends andfamily. On one wall we saw a framed letter from Georgia O'Keeffe toEmily Farnham, the first scholar to write a biography of Demuth,inviting her to come to Abiquiu, O'Keeffe's home in NewMexico New Mexico,state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). . Farnham interviewed and corresponded with many of hisfriends--William Carlos Williams and Marcel Duchamp Noun 1. Marcel Duchamp - French artist who immigrated to the United States; a leader in the dada movement in New York City; was first to exhibit commonplace objects as art (1887-1968)Duchamp , as well asO'Keeffe. Demuth once said of O'Keeffe, "In her canvasseseach color almost regains the fun it must have felt within itself onforming the first rainbow." He left her all of his unsold oils. When "Deem"--as some of his friends called him--was 7years old, he, and his family moved to the King Street home where hespent most of his lifetime. Concerning the pronunciation of his name: Hepronounced it with the accent on the first syllable, and close friendsof his--Georgia O'Keeffe and Carl Van Vechten--are on record saying"DEEmuth." His nickname, "Deem," lends credence tothis pronunciation. He produced over 1,000 works of art and sold many of them. Hereceived favorable reviews during his lifetime and was part of AlfredStieglitz's American Place Gallery in New York City New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Marcel Duchamponce said of Demuth that he was "one of the few artists whom allother artists liked ... a rare case indeed." He has been rememberedas perhaps the most intriguing artist to emerge during the heady JazzAge Noun 1. Jazz Age - the 1920s in the United States characterized in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a period of wealth, youthful exuberance, and carefree hedonism . During the late 1910s and `20s, he joined radical trends in Paris,becoming a regular at Gertrude Stein's salon, along with Hemingway,Braque, Gris and Picasso. His paintings are rich and varied, complex and eccentric, gentleand romantic. His anecdotal works did for New York's Jazz Agenightlife what Toulouse-Lautrec's did for Parisian night scenes.Ideas and attitudes have changed more recently from times whenwatercolors were viewed as a minor medium with refinement and delicacyviewed as weaknesses. Demuth graduated from Franklin and Marshall Academy and studied atDrexel Institute and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts inPhiladelphia. He traveled to Paris as a young man and was part of the"avant-garde" scene there, later bringing a cubist influenceto America. In Philadelphia he met his future patron Albert Barnes, thewell-known collector of modern art, as well as William Carlos Williamswho stated that he met Demuth "over a dish of prunes at Mr.Chain's boardinghouse on Locust locust, in botanylocust,in botany, any species of the genus Robinia, deciduous trees or shrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) native to the United States and Mexico. Street and formed a lifelongfriendship on the spot with dear Charlie." He suffered ill health from an early age and had diabetes as anadult. He was one of the first people to receive insulin. He died at 120East King Street, and is buried in Lancaster Cemetery. For information about hours and current exhibits, contact theDemuth Foundation, 120 East King Street (rear), Lancaster, PA 17602,phone (717) 299-9940, fax (717) 299-9749. Barbara Herberholz is a consultant in art education in Sacramento,Calif., and is a Contributing Editor for Arts & Activities.