Wednesday, Oct. 07, 2009

Amon Carter Museum buys 1940 painting by precisionist master

The Amon Carter is the new owner of a 1940 painting by precisionist Charles Sheeler.

By GAILE ROBINSON

DFW.COM

The Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth has bought a 1940 painting, Conversation — Sky and Earth,by the American precisionist Charles Sheeler (1883-1965).

Precisionism was an American form of modernism that incorporated a precise painting technique of realistic subjects reduced to geometric forms. It was inspired by the development of cubism in Europe and came of age when new technology and giant factories were the leading economic engines in the United States. Sheeler and Charles Demuth were the leading precisionists, as was Georgia O’Keeffe in her early years when she painted urban landscapes.

Sheeler paid his bills with commercial photography and fed his soul by painting. The Carter’s recent acquisition is one of Sheeler’s more romantic visions only because of the lovely sky that transitions from a beautiful turquoise to a heavenly blue. The hard-edged electrical superstructure in the foreground is typical of Sheeler and precisionist works in general.

This image is from a series commissioned by Fortune magazine in 1938 that celebrated America’s industrial power. Sheeler photographed a variety of power stations then created paintings considered by some to be his best work, known collectively as "Power." They are now in the permanent collections of American museums including Suspended Power at the Dallas Museum of Art. The Carter bought Conversation — Sky and Earth in September from a private Minneapolis collection, the Curtis Galleries.

The Carter will not divulge the price of the painting, but the market for Sheelers is as depressed as a 401(k).

Two Sheelers that were offered at auction in 2008 and 2009 with low-end estimates of $150,000 and $120,000, respectively, did not sell.

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer