Details

Provenance

Mrs. Augusta W.B. Demuth, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (mother of the artist) Mrs. Charles Foltz (Josephine Keiffer), Lancaster, Pennsylvania (acquired by descent in 1943) Charles Foltz, Jr., Lancaster, Pennsylvania (acquired by descent) Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York Davis & Langdale, New York, 1981 Wolf Family Collection No. 508 (acquired from the above)

Exhibited

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall College, Fackenthal Library, Twenty-Nine Watercolors by Demuth , 1948, no. 25 New York, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Charles Demuth: Watercolors and Drawings, 1981, no. 5, illustrated Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Modern: Charles Demuth and Lancaster , 1983, no. 36, p. 68, illustrated

Literature

Emily Farnham, Charles Demuth: His Life, Psychology and Works , vol. II, Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1959, p. 636, no. 561 Alvord L. Eiseman, A Study of the Development of an Artist: Charles Demuth , Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1976, no. 7.1933 Catalogue note Charles Demuth is widely regarded as one of the most talented watercolorists in the history of American art. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his still life compositions. With a discerning eye and sharp attention to detail, Demuth faithfully depicts familiar objects with liveliness and modernity that are quintessential to him. The intentional "unfinished" quality of Iris —with its select flowers and stems left uncolored—further undermines the realism traditionally associated with still life compositions, bringing the genre into the 1930s.

Catalog summary

Charles Demuth 1883 - 1935 Iris signed C Demuth and dated '33 (lower right) watercolor and pencil on paper 14 x 10 in. (35.6 x 25.4 cm.) Executed in 1933. Provenance Mrs. Augusta W.B. Demuth, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (mother of the artist) Mrs. Charles Foltz (Josephine Keiffer), Lancaster, Pennsylvania (acquired by descent in 1943) Charles Foltz, Jr., Lancaster, Pennsylvania (acquired by descent) Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York Davis & Langdale, New York, 1981 Wolf Family Collection No. 508 (acquired from the above) Exhibited Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall College, Fackenthal Library, Twenty-Nine Watercolors by Demuth , 1948, no. 25 New York, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Charles Demuth: Watercolors and Drawings, 1981, no. 5, illustrated Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Modern: Charles Demuth and Lancaster , 1983, no. 36, p. 68, illustrated Literature Emily Farnham, Charles Demuth: His Life, Psychology and Works , vol. II, Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1959, p. 636, no. 561 Alvord L. Eiseman, A Study of the Development of an Artist: Charles Demuth , Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1976, no. 7.1933 Catalogue note Charles Demuth is widely regarded as one of the most talented watercolorists in the history of American art. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his still life compositions. With a discerning eye and sharp attention to detail, Demuth faithfully depicts familiar objects with liveliness and modernity that are quintessential to him. The intentional "unfinished" quality of Iris —with its select flowers and stems left uncolored—further undermines the realism traditionally associated with still life compositions, bringing the genre into the 1930s.