Charles Demuth

(American, 1883–1935)

Charles Demuth was an American artist best known for his luminous watercolors of flowers, figures, and architecture. A part of the Precisionist movement alongside Charles Sheeler and Gerald Murphy, Demuth employed vivid hues, exacting lines, and angular forms. In his hallmark work I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928), Demuth visually transcribed William Carlos Williams’s poem The Great Figure (1921), through typography, gold leaf, and fire-engine red paint. “Paintings must be looked at and looked at and looked at,” he once said. “No writing, no talking, no singing, no dancing will explain them.” Born on November 8, 1883 in Lancaster, PA, he first experimented with watercolor while bedridden from an injury. Demuth went on to attend Franklin and Marshall College, Drexel University, and received his graduate degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Having finished his education, he spent his time between New York, Paris, and Provincetown, MA, developing friendships with the playwright Eugene O’Neill, as well as Marcel Duchamp, Marsden Hartley, and Alfred Stieglitz. Suffering from early onset diabetes, Demuth returned to Lancaster in 1921 to undergo experimental treatments. The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his works in 1923, and he had a string of successful solo exhibitions over the following years. Demuth died on October 23, 1935 in Lancaster, PA, leaving much of his estate to his close friend Georgia O’Keeffe. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Demuth Museum in Lancaster, among others.

Charles Demuth Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Charles Demuth (333 results)
Erdgeist - Wedekind (+ Male nude, verso), 1918

Charles Demuth

Erdgeist - Wedekind (+ Male nude, verso), 1918

Sale Date: September 13, 2006

Auction Closed

Biarritz, South of France, 1913

Charles Demuth

Biarritz, South of France, 1913

Sale Date: May 3, 2006

Auction Closed

Male athlete

Charles Demuth

Male athlete

Sale Date: December 14, 2005

Auction Closed

Man with book

Charles Demuth

Man with book

Sale Date: December 1, 2005

Auction Closed

Zinnia bouquet, 1925

Charles Demuth

Zinnia bouquet, 1925

Sale Date: November 30, 2005

Auction Closed

Erdgeist - Wedeking (+ Male nude, pencil,..., 1918

Charles Demuth

Erdgeist - Wedeking (+ Male nude, pencil,..., 1918

Sale Date: September 16, 2005

Auction Closed

Resting on the beach, 1916

Charles Demuth

Resting on the beach, 1916

Sale Date: May 24, 2005

Auction Closed

Bathing beach

Charles Demuth

Bathing beach

Sale Date: May 24, 2005

Auction Closed

Trees #5, 1912–1915

Charles Demuth

Trees #5, 1912–1915

Sale Date: May 24, 1989

Auction Closed

Trees, 1920

Charles Demuth

Trees, 1920

Sale Date: May 19, 2005

Auction Closed

Three pears

Charles Demuth

Three pears

Sale Date: May 19, 2005

Auction Closed

Flowers: Purple, yellow and blue, 1915

Charles Demuth

Flowers: Purple, yellow and blue, 1915

Sale Date: May 19, 2005

Auction Closed

Garden flowers, 1933

Charles Demuth

Garden flowers, 1933

Sale Date: December 1, 2004

Auction Closed

New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1911–1912

Charles Demuth

New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1911–1912

Sale Date: December 2, 2004

Auction Closed

Floral still life, 1922

Charles Demuth

Floral still life, 1922

Sale Date: December 2, 2004

Auction Closed

Trees and hills, 1916

Charles Demuth

Trees and hills, 1916

Sale Date: December 1, 2004

Auction Closed

The Bay, Provincetown, 1912

Charles Demuth

The Bay, Provincetown, 1912

Sale Date: December 1, 2004

Auction Closed

Pepper and tomatoes, 1925–1928

Charles Demuth

Pepper and tomatoes, 1925–1928

Sale Date: December 1, 2004

Auction Closed

Flowers, 1915–1916

Charles Demuth

Flowers, 1915–1916

Sale Date: May 19, 2004

Auction Closed

Time out at the track, 1919–1919

Charles Demuth

Time out at the track, 1919–1919

Sale Date: April 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Calla lilies, 1939–1939

Charles Demuth

Calla lilies, 1939–1939

Sale Date: March 2, 2004

Auction Closed

Two women and a child on the beach, 1934–1934

Charles Demuth

Two women and a child on the beach, 1934–1934

Sale Date: December 19, 2003

Auction Closed

Pink lady slippers, 1918–1918

Charles Demuth

Pink lady slippers, 1918–1918

Sale Date: December 4, 2003

Auction Closed

Pansies, 1905–1905

Charles Demuth

Pansies, 1905–1905

Sale Date: October 30, 2003

Auction Closed

English (US)

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