Debilitated by diabetes during the last eight years of his life, Demuth's artistic output was also severely curtailed. Ironically, however, his late works, as evidenced by this 1929 watercolor of poppies, are some of his boldest in terms of color, draftsmanship, and design. Unlike the luminous transparency of earlier botanical studies, the watercolor here is applied rather opaquely. The spiked contours and gentle curves of the flowers direct our eye around the composition, coming to rest on the large open blossom in the center. Presenting the full cycle of the flower— budding, opening, blooming, and decaying—he also suggests the human life cycle, and perhaps his own diminished physical strength.
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right in image, in graphite): 1929./ C.Demuth
the artist (from 1929; on consignment to Alfred Stieglitz, New York; probably sold by Stieglitz to Halpert); Edith Gregor Halpert, New York (by 1937–d. 1970; her estate 1970–73; her estate sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, March 14–15, 1973, no. 21, sold to Loeb); Henry and Louise Loeb, New York (1973–83; their gift to MMA)
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Charles Demuth Memorial Exhibition," December 15, 1937–January 16, 1938, no. 38 (lent by The Downtown Gallery).
Paris. Musée du Jeu de Paume. "Trois Siècles d'Art aux Etats-Unis," May–July 1938, no. 43 (lent by Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert, New York).
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Americans at Home: Exhibition of 32 Paintings and Sculpture by 32 Artists," October 4–22, 1938, no. 5 (lent by Mrs. E. G. Halpert).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Charles Demuth," March 7–June 11, 1950, no. 148 (as "Poppies"; lent by Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert, New York).
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Charles Demuth–Oils and Watercolors," July 6–28, 1950, no catalogue.
Norfolk, Va. Norfolk Museum. "Significant American Moderns," March 1953, unnumbered cat. (as "Poppies," lent by Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert, New York).
Ogunquit, Me. Ogunquit Museum of Art. "Americans of Our Times: Seventh Annual Exhibition," June 27–September 10, 1959.
Washington, D. C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Loan Exhibition from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection," January 16–February 28, 1960.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "The Precisionist View in American Art," November 13–December 25, 1960, unnumbered cat. (p. 55; as "Poppies," lent by Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert, New York).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "The Precisionist View in American Art," January 24–February 28, 1961, unnumbered cat.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Precisionist View in American Art," March 21–April 23, 1961, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Precisionist View in American Art," May 17–June 18, 1961, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The Precisionist View in American Art," June 30–August 6, 1961, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "A World of Flowers," May 2–June 9, 1963, unnumbered cat. (published in "Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin," vol. 58, Spring 1963, p. 171; lent by Mrs. Edith Gregor Halpert, New York).
New York. Gallery of Modern Art. "The Twenties Revisited," June 29–September 6, 1965, unnumbered cat. (as "Poppies," c. 1929, lent anonymously).
Harrisburg, Penn. William Penn Memorial Museum. "Charles Demuth of Lancaster," September 24–November 6, 1966, no. 131.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Eight American Masters of Watercolor," April 23–June 16, 1968, no. 81.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Eight American Masters of Watercolor," June 28–August 18, 1968, no. 81.
Seattle Art Museum. "Eight American Masters of Watercolor," September 5–October 13, 1968, no. 81.
Corpus Christi. Art Museum of South Texas. "A Selection of American Paintings from the Estate of the Late Edith Gregor Halpert, New York," January 19–February 10, 1973.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Gifts: 1982," February 16–March 27, 1983, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Reflections of Nature: Flowers in American Art," March 1–May 20, 1984.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Charles Demuth," October 15, 1987–January 17, 1988, unnumbered cat. (pl. 115).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "60 Drawings: Recent Acquisitions," October 23, 1990–January 15, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings: Additions to the Collection," May 23–September 29, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Still Life: 1915–1950," February 1, 1995–January 28, 1996, no catalogue.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries," January 28–April 22, 2001, unnumbered cat. (pl 139).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Charles Demuth," May 9–August 31, 2003, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Drawings (1900–1950): Selections from the Permanent Collection," October 25, 2005–April 23, 2006, no catalogue.
Royal Cortissoz. "The Delicate Art of the Late Chas. Demuth." New York Herald Tribune (December 19, 1937), p. 8.
James W. Lane. "Notes from New York." Apollo 27 (January 1938), ill. p. 96.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Art of Americans Put on Exhibition." New York Times (October 5, 1938), p. 21.
Howard Devree. "Diverse Modernism in a Demuth Exhibition." New York Times (July 16, 1950), p. X2.
Carlyle Burrows. "Art in Review: Some Shows on the Summer Season." New York Herald Tribune (July 9, 1950), p. D5.
James Thrall Soby inNew Art in America: Fifty Painters of the 20th Century. Ed. John I. H. Baur. Greenwich, Conn., 1957, ill. p. 54, calls it "Poppies".
Emily Farnham. "Charles Demuth: His Life, Psychology, and Works." PhD diss., Ohio State University, Columbus, 1959, vol. 1, pp. 327–28, 334–35, fig. 139; vol. 2, p. 625, no. 535.
"Museum of Art, Ogunquit, Will Open June 27." Sanford Tribune and Advocate (Sanford, Me.) (June 25, 1959), section A, p. 7.
William H. Pierson Jr. and Martha Davidson, ed. Arts of the United States: A Pictorial Survey. New York, 1960, p. 338, no. 3074, ill., call it "Poppies".
"Charles Demuth Art Loaned to Phila. Museum." Daily Intelligencer Journal (April 30, 1963), p. 11.
"Demuth's Poppies in Phila. Show." Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Penn.) (April 29, 1963), p. 5.
"Demuth Show Opens Sunday at Harrisburg." Lancaster New Era (September 24, 1966), p. 13, ill. (installation photo, Exh. Harrisburg 1966).
"Demuth Art Exhibition Opens Today." Sunday News (Lancaster, Penn.) (September 25, 1966), p. 27.
Emily Farnham. Charles Demuth: Behind a Laughing Mask. Norman, Okla., 1971, pp. 187, 209.
"The Edith Halpert Sale: 'Trying to Figure It Out'." Art News 72 (April 1973), p. 95.
Norman Nadel. "American Art Sold." Alburquerque Tribune (March 29, 1973), p. B-3.
Alvord L. Eiseman. "A Study of the Development of an Artist: Charles Demuth." PhD diss., New York University, School of Education, 1974, p. 503, no. 300.
Lisa M. Messinger. "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1982–1983. New York, 1983, p. 71, ill. (color).
Barbara Haskell. Charles Demuth. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1987, p. 199, colorpl. 115.
Edward J. Sozanski. "Demuth Retrospective Shows His Achievement and Torment." Philadelphia Inquirer (November 8, 1987), p. 16-G, ill.
Helen A. Cooper. "The Watercolors of Charles Demuth." Magazine Antiques 133 (January 1988), p. 265, colorpl. XI.
Charles Brock in Sarah Greenough. Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D. C., 2000, pp. 372, 531, colorpl. 139.
Mark D. Mitchell. "Reflections: Charles Demuth and Georgia O'Keeffe." Magazine Antiques 174 (November 2008), p. 123, figs. 1, 10 (color, detail and overall).
Abra Levenson. "Figures and Things: Charles Demuth, 1908–1935." PhD diss., Princeton University, 2018, p. 110, fig. 115.
Ashley Lazevnick. "Never Still! Nonhuman Life in Charles Demuth's 'Green Pears'." Oxford Art Journal 44 (August 2021), p. 283, fig. 11 (color).
Ashley Lazevnick. Fantasies of Precision: American Modern Art, 1908–1947. Minneapolis, 2023, p. 195, colorpl. 19.
Charles Demuth (American, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 1883–1935 Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
1920
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