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Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuth's Late Paintings of Lancaster

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Charles Demuth painted his native Lancaster. He painted the area with wit and humor.The author places him with the precisionsists, There is more than a little Duchamp in his approach to buildings. "Business" one of the cleverist of his commentaries on work a day life is missing here.There is a thorough discussion of his bout with diabetes.The famous collector Albert Barnes helped him financially to get treatment.Demuth was a close friend of Dr. Barnes.The poet Dr. William Carlos Williams was a friend from early days in Philadelphia.Charles was esteemed for his taste,intellect as well as his artistic acumen.I could do without the history of diabetes ,but it does put Demuth in a sympathetic light.The lightness of his work relates to his slight physical stature.Diabetes cure happened con-currently with his life. The development of Masonite board occured at the same time as the period of his working life. There is a thorough discussion of his materials and techniques.. It shows how he developed his boards with sketches of his subjects. There are some of the sketches illustrated. There are color reproductions of all of the works in the exhibition ,that will be on display until 2008. The repros are first rate. I liked some of the watercolors reproduced here. More abstract than any I have seen, I have most of the hardback books of Demuth.Demuth is worthy of study.This catalogue adds needed information on this early American Artist.Demuth admired Marin( he spilled buckets but I never spilled a drop) Demuth I prefer... there is a dadaist in his soul. He was a friend of Stuart Davis : I would think they shared an enthusiam for sketchbooks.In a final note the author states that his work in watercolor gave strength to his color sense . That gave him confidence to carry out a series of oils. He was always struggling to improve his art.