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In Charles Sheeler, Newman placed his camera close to his subject, who sits sideways on a chair against a wall marked off in squares. He is dressed for cold weather in a wool overcoat, wool suit, v-neck sweater, shirt and tie, and holds his fedora in his right hand. The pose is casual, with his left arm hanging over the back of the chair, revealing his wristwatch. His head is turned three-quarters to the left and into the light. The subject has salt and pepper gray hair with a receding hairline and wears wire-rimmed glasses.
Because of his penchant for precise, hard-edged scenes, Charles Sheeler (1883–1965) is considered an exemplar of Precisionism. He attended art schools in Philadelphia and, after a sojourn in Paris, returned and settled in rural Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Afraid that he could not make his way as a painter, he supported himself with commercial photography. In 1927, the Ford Motor Company commissioned him to photograph its industrial plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The commission exposed Sheeler to a machinist aesthetic that influenced his paintings. Conversation Piece, 1952, in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art, displays Sheeler’s fascination with geometric shapes as well as his awareness of the potential of double exposures.
Newman’s portrayal of his fellow photographer is clean and serene. The hard geometry of the background—not unlike a Sheeler painting—is relieved by the curves and bulges of the sitter’s clothes. Like the light in Sheeler’s paintings, the light in the photograph is luminous, carefully articulating his face, hands, and hat.
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Charles Sheeler
Artist
Arnold Newman
(1918 - 2006)
Subject
Charles Sheeler
(1883 - 1965)
Date1942
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 17 1/4 x 14 1/4 in. (43.8 x 36.2 cm)
Image: 8 5/8 x 8 1/8 in. (21.9 x 20.6 cm)
Signed© Arnold Newman
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1983.2.5
DescriptionArnold Newman found that artists in general were more receptive to his work: “Artists accepted photography right from the beginning, long before it was ‘discovered’ by dealers, critics, and the public. A great many, from Degas to Rauschenberg, have worked seriously with the camera. That may explain their initial ready acceptance of me.” [1] In his Artists Look Like This series, Newman often photographed artists who, in addition to being successful painters, were also accomplished photographers. The list includes such figures as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Charles Sheeler. In Charles Sheeler, Newman placed his camera close to his subject, who sits sideways on a chair against a wall marked off in squares. He is dressed for cold weather in a wool overcoat, wool suit, v-neck sweater, shirt and tie, and holds his fedora in his right hand. The pose is casual, with his left arm hanging over the back of the chair, revealing his wristwatch. His head is turned three-quarters to the left and into the light. The subject has salt and pepper gray hair with a receding hairline and wears wire-rimmed glasses.
Because of his penchant for precise, hard-edged scenes, Charles Sheeler (1883–1965) is considered an exemplar of Precisionism. He attended art schools in Philadelphia and, after a sojourn in Paris, returned and settled in rural Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Afraid that he could not make his way as a painter, he supported himself with commercial photography. In 1927, the Ford Motor Company commissioned him to photograph its industrial plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The commission exposed Sheeler to a machinist aesthetic that influenced his paintings. Conversation Piece, 1952, in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art, displays Sheeler’s fascination with geometric shapes as well as his awareness of the potential of double exposures.
Newman’s portrayal of his fellow photographer is clean and serene. The hard geometry of the background—not unlike a Sheeler painting—is relieved by the curves and bulges of the sitter’s clothes. Like the light in Sheeler’s paintings, the light in the photograph is luminous, carefully articulating his face, hands, and hat.
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
Status
Not on view