Charles Demuth.Meet the Artist * 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. was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351,[1] it is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, , and traveled and lived in Europe and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . An accomplished painter with both watercolors and oil, Demuth helped to found Precisionism Precisionism Smooth, precise technique used primarily in the 1920s by several U.S. painters in representational canvases depicting sharply defined forms, such as urban skylines; the industrial landscape of factories and smokestacks, buildings, and machinery; and country , a powerful though short-lived American art American art, the art of the North American colonies and of the United States. There are separate articles on American architecture, North American Native art, pre-Columbian art and architecture, Mexican art and architecture, Spanish colonial art and architecture, movement allied with Cubism cubism, art movement, primarily in painting, originating in Paris c.1907. Cubist Theory Cubism began as an intellectual revolt against the artistic expression of previous eras. in Europe. Precisionism emphasized the details of modem cities and was important in the growing Modern Art movement. Demuth painted a series in the 1920s called the Poster Portraits in which he presented his friends symbolically (without painting their faces). The best known is "The Figure 5 in Gold," a portrait of the poet William Carlos Williams. Learning About the Poem Demuth's painting pays tribute to William Carlos Williams's poem "The Great Figure." Its title comes from a line of the poem: "I saw the figure five in gold." To read and learn about the poem with your students, see the Poetry Poster (reverse side) and the Poetry Workshop, page 54. Create Your Own Art Follow Demuth's example and make symbolic portraits with your students. They should begin by choosing a family member or a good friend, then gather images. Use these questions to help students choose symbols: * What one word comes to mind when you think of your subject? * Think of a shape to represent your subject (round, angular angular /an·gu·lar/ (ang´gu-lar) sharply bent; having corners or angles. ). * Think of your subject as a color (a calm blue, a fiery red, nature green). * What images or objects could you use (initials, a friendship ring, a bike, a favorite pet, or a sport)? Each student can use paint, ink, and cut-outs to build a portrait. A WALK THROUGH THE PAINTING Precisionism Demuth's interest in painting city scenes is shown in the many streetlights, the crisscrossing lines that suggest a fire ladder, and the shapes of a fire engine and city buildings. Movement Diagonal lines that slash through the painting add to the sense of motion. The "fives" and the bright lights appear to be moving closer and closer to us. City Lights The lights are associated with city life: The round lampposts and headlights, 'CARLO' in neon neon (nē`ŏn) [Gr.,=new], gaseous chemical element; symbol Ne; at. no. 10; at. wt. 20.179; m.p. −248.67°C;; b.p. −246.048°C;; density 0.8999 grams per liter at STP; valence 0. Neon is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. , and the overlapping window reflections on the street. Clues for the Eyes We can see many text representations of the poet and the painter: CARLO, Bill, and W C W. In the lower left corner, C D represents Charles Demuth, the portraits painter. Both Demuth and Williams are associated with the word ART (reflected in the window). Personality A painting can have a personality, just like a person. "Figure 5" is bold, bright, and layered like Williams himself, a poet and a doctor. A doctor sometimes has to rush to save others (as does a fire truck). |
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