The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist [Hardcover]

Theodore E. Stebbins (Author), Giles Mora (Author), Karen Haas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2002

Considered one of the most significant painters of the period between the two world wars and founder of the precisionist school, Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) was also one of the pivotal photgraphers of the modernist movement in America. His direct style can be likened to that of his contemporaries Paul Strand, Edward Weston and Edward Steichen and he is probably best known for documenting the transformation of the American urban landscape (in both his photos and paintings), and for an early series of photos that pay homage to his 19th-century farmhouse in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This text serves as a catalogue to a major retrospective of his work at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Essays by distinguished experts Theodore Stebbins Jr, Gilles Mora, Karen E. Haas and writings by Sheeler himself are included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stebbings is the Distinguished Fellow and Consultative Curator of American Art, Harvard Uni Art Museums & author of numerous books. Mora is a French curator who has produced a series of important photography catalogues. Haas is Curator of The Lane Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1 Amer ed edition (October 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821228129
• ISBN-13: 978-0821228128
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheeler works, February 26, 2011

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist (Hardcover)

I had always thought of Charles Sheeler as a painter of industrial landscapes rather than a photographer until I looked through this book. Now I think he was creative in both mediums. As the title suggests this is about his photography and though there are examples of his paintings, mostly to illustrate the three essays, they are in black and white. Sheeler was experimenting with photography and painting before 1920. The book has photo sections devoted to his Doylestown house (near Philadelphia) African sculpture and a few clothed and nude studies of his wife Katharine.

Sheeler visited Europe in 1929 and an important part of this trip was to photograph Chartres Cathedral, he called it "...one of the outstanding experiences of a life-time". The book includes thirteen beautiful shots of the Cathedral and they look remarkably like his photos of the Ford Motor Rouge River blast furnaces and other exterior bits of the industrial plant which he took in 1927.

After 1929 Sheeler concentrated on his paintings. The photos in the book for this period: 1929 to 1939, include house interiors and several for his Power series. One of these, the wheels of a Hudson steam loco was the basis of his famous super realist 1939 painting 'Rolling Power'.

The images in the book are taken from Lane Collection, of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, who own the Sheeler photographic estate and the book was originally published in conjunction with exhibitions in 2003/4. The 190 photos are printed as tritones with a 250 screen and they look a treat on the page. The design of the book is first class as is the text, especially the essay by photo historian Gilles Mora. Oddly there is no index.

I thought this was an excellent monograph about Charles Sheeler's photography. A side of his creativity that is not so well known as his industrial landscape paintings.

>>>LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Pictures, May 31, 2010

By 

Kelly (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my husband after seeing a Charles Sheeler exhibit in Boston one year. This book is very sturdy and the pictures are gorgeous. Its a good coffee table book!