Guglielmi depicts the General Motors Building at Columbus Circle, New York, with a draftsman’s concern for linear detail. While his background in neoclassical mural painting gave him expertise in spatial construction, Guglielmi stated his allegiance to artists associated with the style known as Precisionism, including Charles Demuth. Although the painting is devoid of figurative subjects, Guglielmi felt it suggested life, "I like to evoke the feel of a street, the unseen life hidden by blank walls, its bustle and noise, the mystery of a deserted alley."
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Artwork Details
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Title:Nocturne (The General Motors Building at Columbus Circle)
Artist:O. Louis Guglielmi (American (born Egypt), Cairo 1906–1956 Amagansett, New York)
Date:1931
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:35 1/8 × 20 in. (89.2 × 50.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Carl D. Lobell, 1995
Object Number:1995.226.4
Inscription: Signed (lower left, partially obscured): Gugliel[mi]
the artist (1931–d. 1956; his estate, 1956–at least 1980; on consignment to the Downtown Gallery, New York, 1967–at least 1969; on consignment to the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, in 1980); [Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York; stock no. 81 OLG 17]; [Salander O'Reilly Galleries, New York; sold in 1980s to Lobell]; Carl D. Lobell, New York (1980s–1995; his gift to MMA)
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Guglielmi: Exhibition of Paintings 1931 to 1954," November 7–25, 1967, no. 1 (as "Nocturne").
New Brunswick, N. J. Rutgers University Art Gallery. "O. Louis Guglielmi: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 2–December 21, 1980, no. 10 (as "Nocturne," lent by the Estate of O. Louis Guglielmi. Courtesy of Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York).
Providence, R. I. Bell Gallery, Brown University. "O. Louis Guglielmi: A Retrospective Exhibition," January 10–February 1, 1981, no. 10.
University Art Gallery, State University of New York at Albany. "O. Louis Guglielmi: A Retrospective Exhibition," March 1–April 25, 1981, no. 10.
Oxford, England. Ashmolean Museum. "America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper," March 23–July 22, 2018, no. 33.
John Baker. O. Louis Guglielmi: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Rutgers University Art Gallery. New Brunswick, N. J., 1980, pp. 4, 77, no. 10, fig. 10.
Eileen Watkins. "Multifaceted Guglielmi is Recalled." Sunday Star-Ledger (Newark) (November 23, 1980), section 4, p. 12.
Gerritt L. Lansing. "'A Neurotic Mirror': The Painting of O. Louis Gugliemi, 1932–1943." PhD diss., New York University, 1999, p. 4, pl. 4, calls it "Nocturne".
Laura Cumming. "America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper Review—A Whole New Story." theguardian.com. April 1, 2018.
Norman Lewis (American, New York 1909–1979 New York)
1978
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