Charles DemuthAmerican, 1883–1935Business
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Charles Demuth was fascinated by the industrial landscape of his native Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and depicted here a factory building head-on in a starkly linear composition. In choosing a flat subject that mimics the surface of the canvas, Demuth embraced the modernist ideal of unifying form and content. But the artist then irreverently painted a calendar onto the building’s windows—the days of the week surrounded by looming shadows. At a time when many Americans exalted industrialization in the name of progress, Business can instead be read as a critique of the dreary routines that already shaped 20th-century work. At his death, Demuth bequeathed this painting to his longtime friend and supporter Georgia O’Keeffe who later gave it to the Art Institute.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1949.529
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Charles Demuth
The whole life1907–1921
Encounters modernism on trips to Europe
On trips to Europe between 1907 and 1921 he is introduced to modernism; in Paris he studies at the Académie Colarossi and the Académie Julian and joins the avant-garde scene, where his homosexuality is accepted. Before that he had studied in Philadelphia, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anshutz, where he befriended the future poet William Carlos Williams — the two remained close for life.
1907–1921
Meets Hartley, and through him Stieglitz
In Paris he walks up to a table of American artists and asks to join them, and so meets Marsden Hartley; his humour, rich in double entendres, makes him a regular member of their group. Through Hartley he meets Alfred Stieglitz and joins the Stieglitz group; he is also a regular guest at Gertrude Stein’s salon.
by 1920
Diabetes drains his creative energy
By 1920 diabetes has begun to severely drain his artistic energy. He will be one of the first people in the United States to receive insulin, but complications of diabetes will cause his death in 1935.
