Born in Philadelphia, Charles Sheeler studied art at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Design (1900–03) and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1903–06) before traveling to Europe. In 1912 he took up commercial photography in order to earn a living while he continued to paint. Sheeler was a versatile artist who moved easily between painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and film, and there are many correlations between his works in different mediums. In the 1920s and 1930s Sheeler and Charles Demuth, among others, worked in a style of painting called Precisionism. Sheeler's sharply focused depictions of buildings, machinery, and interiors were often based on his own photographs.
Between 1926 and 1934 Sheeler produced a series of seven paintings—among them Americana—that depict the interior of his home in South Salem, New York, and his prized collection of early American furnishings. Americana, as well as the others, may have been based on one of the interior photographs that Sheeler took of his house about 1929. Filled with a profusion of precisely rendered objects but no people—the painting seems oddly frozen in time and emotionally distant. The floor and furniture seem to tip upward toward the viewer, making them look off-balance and rather two-dimensional. The long trestle table and the two side benches hover like flat boards over the other furniture and the floor. The conflicting geometric and linear patterns of the four rugs, two pillows, woven sofa covering, backgammon set, and cast shadows add to our visual discomfort, as does the unusual cropping of objects. The verity of Sheeler's realism, however, makes us willing to accept these inconsistencies. The painting is as much a portrait of the artist's living space as it is a statement about national pride and the values of home and craftsmanship.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Americana
Artist:Charles Sheeler (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1883–1965 Dobbs Ferry, New York)
Date:1931
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:48 1/8 × 36 1/8 in. (122.2 × 91.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection, Bequest of Edith Abrahamson Lowenthal, 1991
Accession Number:1992.24.8
Inscription: Signed and dated (bottom right): Sheeler–1931
the artist, Ridgefield, Conn. and Irvington, N. Y. (1931–46; sold on May 25, 1946, through the Downtown Gallery, New York, to Lowenthal); Edith and Milton Lowenthal, New York (1946–his d. 1987); Edith Lowenthal, New York (1987–d. 1991; her bequest to MMA)
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Charles Sheeler: Exhibition of Recent Works," November 18–December 7, 1931, no. 1.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Twelfth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oils," June 10–July 10, 1932, unnum. checklist (published in "Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art" 19 [June 1932], p. 106).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting," November 22, 1932–January 5, 1933, no. 12.
Springfield, Mass. Springfield Museum of Fine Arts. "The Springfield Museum of Fine Arts Opening Exhibition," October 7–November 2, 1933, no. 231A (p. 37; lent by the Downtown Gallery).
New York. Grand Central Art Galleries. "Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists," June 19–July 12, 1934, no catalogue.
Society of Arts and Crafts, Detroit. "An Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Burchfield and Charles Sheeler," January 16–February 2, 1935, brochure no. 20 (lent by The Downtown Gallery).
Grand Rapids Art Gallery. "Twenty-Five Contemporary Americans from the Rehn Gallery, Downtown Gallery and Ferargil Galleries, New York," November 1935, no catalogue.
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery. "The Art of Today," January 3–31, 1936, no. 109 (lent by the Downtown Gallery).
Brooklyn Museum. "Alexander Brook, Guy Pène du Bois, Leon Kroll, Charles Sheeler, John Sloan, and John Flannagan," October 10–November 29, 1936, no catalogue.
New York. Daylight Gallery at the Downtown Gallery. "American Art," March 30–May 10, 1937, unnum. checklist.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "Art of the Americas: Pre-Columbian & Contemporary," June 12–October 31, 1937, no. 104 (lent by the Downtown Gallery, New York).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Forty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture," November 18, 1937–January 16, 1938, no. 205.
London. Wildenstein & Co., Ltd. "Contemporary American Paintings," May 25–June 25, 1938, unnumbered cat.
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Americans at Home: Exhibition of 32 Paintings and Sculpture by 32 Artists," October 4–22, 1938, no. 24.
New York World's Fair. "American Art Today," April 30–October 31, 1939, no. 449.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs," October 4–November 1, 1939, no. 26 (lent by the Downtown Gallery, New York).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Half a Century of American Art," November 16, 1939–January 7, 1940, no. 147 (lent by the artist, courtesy of The Downtown Gallery, New York).
Northampton, Mass. Smith College Museum of Art. "American Art: Aspects of American Painting, 1900-1940," June 12–22, 1940, no. 23 (lent by the Downtown Gallery).
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Survey of American Painting," October 24–December 15, 1940, no. 366 (lent by the artist).
New York. Downtown Gallery. "What is Wrong with this Picture?," May 6–30, 1941, unnum. brochure.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Masters of Contemporary American Painting," March 5–28, 1943, no. 44 (lent by the Downtown Gallery).
Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy. "Works by Charles Sheeler," October 14–November 29, 1946.
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art. "Charles Sheeler Loan Exhibition," January 4–February 2, 1948, no catalogue.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "New York Private Collections," July 20–September 12, 1948, unnumbered cat. (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal).
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. "Sheeler Dove Exhibition," January 7–23, 1951, no. 23 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal).
Minneapolis. University Gallery, Department of Art, University of Minnesota. "40 American Painters, 1940–1950," June 4–August 30, 1951, no. 67 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, New York).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection," October 1–November 2, 1952, no. 94.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection," November 28, 1952–January 17, 1953, no. 94.
Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," October 11–November 7, 1954, no. 13 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, New York).
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 18, 1954–January 1, 1955, no. 13.
San Diego Fine Arts Gallery. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," January 14–February 11, 1955, no. 13.
Fort Worth Art Center. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," February 24–March 24, 1955, no. 13.
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," April 7–May 5, 1955, no. 13.
Utica, N.Y. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," May 8–23, 1955, no. 13.
Des Moines Art Center. "10th Anniversary Exhibition: Current Painting Styles and Their Sources," June 1–July 20, 1958, unnumbered cat. (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, N. Y.).
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "The Precisionist View in American Art," November 13–December 25, 1960, unnumbered cat. (p. 18; lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, 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.
New York. Barnard College. "Loan Exhibition: Modern American Paintings from the Collection of Milton and Edith Lowenthal," November 5–30, 1962, no. 17.
Washington, D. C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "The New Tradition: Modern Americans Before 1940," April 27–June 2, 1963, no. 91 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal).
Waltham, Mass. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. "American Modernism: The First Wave, Painting from 1903 to 1933," October 4–November 10, 1963, Sheeler no. 3 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, New York).
Brooklyn Museum. "Modernist Art from the Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection," March 21–May 10, 1981, no. 58.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Still Life: 1915–1950," February 1, 1995–January 28, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Art: The Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection," October 10, 1996–January 12, 1997, unnumbered cat. (p. 12; published in MMA Bulletin 54, summer 1996).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Photography of Charles Sheeler," June 3–August 17, 2003, not in catalogue (unnumbered checklist for MMA venue).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Simple Gifts: Shaker at The Met," January 1–August 6, 2017, no catalogue.
Oxford, England. Ashmolean Museum. "America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper," March 23–July 22, 2018, no. 67.
New York. Jewish Museum. "Edith Halpert and the Rise of American Art," October 18, 2019–February 9, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 61).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s," September 5–December 10, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 42).
H. V. D. "Art: Charles Sheeler's Exhibition." New York Times (November 19, 1931), p. 32, notes that Sheeler's talent for photography is clear in the use of light, line, shadow and pattern in this work.
"Charles Sheeler: Downtown Gallery." Art News 30 (November 21, 1931), p. 8, ill. p. 6.
E. C. Sherburne. "A New American Biennial." Christian Science Monitor 25 (November 26, 1932), p. 8.
Ralph Flint. "Whitney Museum Opens Its First Biennial Show." Art News 31 (November 26, 1932), p. 4.
Edward Alden Jewell. "New Exhibit Opens at Grand Central." New York Times (June 20, 1934), p. L19.
Jerome Mellquist. "American Artists in Brooklyn: A Show of Six at the Brooklyn Museum." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (November 1, 1936), p. 10C.
Howard Devree. "A Reviewer's Notebook: Comment on Newly Opened Exhibitions–O'Keeffe in Retrospect–Other Art News." New York Times (April 4, 1937), p. 10X.
Constance Rourke. Charles Sheeler: Artist in the American Tradition. New York, 1938, pp. 8, 155–56, 166, ill. p. 102.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Art of Americans Put on Exhibition." New York Times (October 5, 1938), p. 21.
"Americans at Home, 'Where They Belong'." Art Digest 13 (October 15, 1938), p. 12, ill.
Jan Gordon. "Art and Artists: Contemporary Americans, the Native and the Imported." Observer (May 29, 1938), p. 14.
"Americans in London." Art Digest 12 (May 15, 1938), p. 16.
"London to Rival Paris in Display of American Art." New York Herald Tribune (May 7, 1938), p. 9.
Frank Crowninshield. "Charles Sheeler's 'Americana'." Vogue 94 (October 15, 1939), p. 106, ill. p. 65 (color), reviews Exh. New York 1939.
Edward Alden Jewell. Have We An American Art? New York, 1939, p. 219.
"These Painters & Sculptors Passed the Jury." Art Digest 13, N. Y. World's Fair Special Number (June 1, 1939), p. 33.
Holger Cahill inAmerican Art Today. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, pp. 28, 142, no. 449, ill.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Melange: Varied Attractions of the Week." New York Times (May 11, 1941), p. X7.
Howard Devree. "Personal Choices: Examples in Collections in a Summer Show." New York Times (July 25, 1948), p. 8X, ill., review of Exh. New York 1948.
Bartlett H. Hayes Jr. inCharles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles. Los Angeles, 1954, pp. 9, 45, no. 13, ill. p. 19, places this work in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal, New York.
Frederick S. Wight. "Charles Sheeler." Art in America 42 (October 1954), p. 203, ill. p. 191, Reprints Ref. Wight 1954.
Frederick S. Wight inCharles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles. Los Angeles, 1954, p. 32.
Frederick S. Wight inNew Art in America: Fifty Painters of the 20th Century. Ed. John I. H. Baur. Greenwich, Conn., 1957, pp. 97–98, ill. p. 99.
Leonard Good. "Great Art of Many Eras Shown Here." Des Moines Sunday Register (June 1, 1958), p. 2L.
Martin L. Friedman. The Precisionist View in American Art. Exh. cat., Walker Art Center. Minneapolis, 1960, pp. 42–43, 58, ill. p. 18.
Faith and Edward D. Andrews. "Sheeler and the Shakers." Art in America 53 (February 1965), ill. p. 94.
Sam Hunter and John Jacobus. American Art of the 20th Century: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York, 1973, fig. 247.
Martin Friedman. Charles Sheeler. New York, 1975, pp. 8, 92, 95, colorpl. 15, calls it "Americana 31".
Patterson Sims. Charles Sheeler: A Concentration of Works from the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1980, ill. p. 21.
John R. Lane inThe Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum. New York, 1981, pp. 4–5.
Sarah Faunce inThe Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum. New York, 1981, p. 51, no. 58, ill. p. 45 (color).
Carol Troyen inThe Lane Collection: 20th-Century Paintings in the American Tradition. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1983, p. 52.
Carol Troyen inCharles Sheeler: Paintings and Drawings. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1987, p. 21, fig. 18.
Karen Lucic. "Charles Sheeler and Henry Ford: A Craft Heritage for the Machine Age." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 65, no. 1 (1989), pp. 44–45, fig. 7.
Karen Lucic. Charles Sheeler and the Cult of the Machine. Cambridge, Mass., 1991, p. 131, fig. 35 (color).
Lowery Stokes Sims in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1991–1992." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 50 (Fall 1992), pp. 66–67, ill. (color).
Barbara Burn, ed. Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 301, ill. (color).
Barbara Burn, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1983). New York, 1994, p. 440, no. 17, ill. (color).
Lisa Mintz Messinger. "American Art: The Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 54 (Summer 1996), pp. 7, 12, 52, ill. pp. 7 (installation photo), 12 (color), 52.
Philippe de Montebello. "Director's Note." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 54 (Summer 1996), p. 3.
Holland Cotter. "Collectors Both Daring and Lucky." New York Times (December 20, 1996), p. C27, ill.
Erika Doss. Twentieth-Century American Art. Oxford, 2002, p. 83, fig. 36.
Stephen Bowe and Peter Richmond. Selling Shaker: The Commodification of Shaker Design in the Twentieth Century. Liverpool, England, 2007, p. 53 n. 26.
Kristina Wilson. "Ambivalence, Irony, and Americana: Charles Sheeler's 'American Interiors'." Winterthur Portfolio 45 (Winter 2011), pp. 249–51, 253–61, 265, 268–70, 276, fig. 2 (color).
William D. Moore. "'You’d Swear They Were Modern': Ruth Reeves, the Index of American Design, and the Canonization of Shaker Material Culture." Winterthur Portfolio 47 (Spring 2013), p. 9, fig. 4.
Erika Doss. American Art of the 20th–21st Centuries. New York, 2017, p. 75, fig. 47.
Kathleen Ritter in Katherine M. Bourguignon Lauren Kroiz and Leo G. Mazow. America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper. Exh. cat., Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, England, 2018, p. 90, no. 67, ill.(color) pp. 91, 158.
Lauren Kroiz in Katherine M. Bourguignon Lauren Kroiz and Leo G. Mazow. America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper. Exh. cat., Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, England, 2018, p. 64.
Rebecca Shaykin. Edith Halpert, the Downtown Gallery, and the Rise of American Art. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum. New York, 2019, pp. 61, 64, 144, 207 n. 40, ill. (color).
Philip J. Deloria. Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract. Seattle, 2019, p. 180, fig. 4.16 (color).
Katie Wood Kirchhoff inLuigi Lucioni: Modern Light. Ed. Katie Wood Kirchhoff. Exh. cat., Shelburne Museum. Shelburne, Vt., 2022, pp. 60, 63 n. 20, fig. 16 (color).
Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, pp. 20, 195, colorpl. 42.
Ashley Lazevnick. Fantasies of Precision: American Modern Art, 1908–1947. Minneapolis, 2023, pp. 22, 25–26, 33–36, 46, 53–54, 224, 231, 249, colorpl. 3.
Karen Wilkin. "Yesterday's Tomorrow." New Criterion 42 (December 2023), pp. 32–33.
Susan Tallman. "How American Eyes Got Modern." New York Review of Books 71 (May 9, 2024), p. 33.
Charles Sheeler (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1883–1965 Dobbs Ferry, New York)
ca. 1930
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