Beschreibung:

Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935) Cyclamen Pencil signed and dated 'C. Demuth -1918-' bottom left, watercolor and pencil on paper Sheet size: 14 x 10 in. (35.6 x 25.4cm) provenance: Knoedler & Co., New York, New York. Acquired directly from the above in 1952. Collection of Phillip A. Bruno, New York, New York. EXHIBITED:"The Josephine and Phillip A. Bruno Collection," Finch College Museum of Art, New York, New York, November 23, 1965-January 9, 1966; and The Saint Paul Art Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota, March 3-May 15, 1966 (traveling exhibition). "Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801-1939," Tulsa, Oklahoma, Philbrook Art Center, September 27, 1981-July 4, 1982, no. 24. LITERATURE: E.E. Norton, et al., Homage to Charles Demuth Still Life Painter of Lancaster, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 1978, p. 86 (illustrated). W.H. Gerdts, Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life 1801-1939, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma; University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri, 1981, fig. 11.9, pp. 261-62, (illustrated). Harry Lowe, et al., The Josephine and Phillip A. Bruno Collection, an exhibition catalogue, Finch College Museum of Art, New York, New York, 1965, fig. 41. pp. 8 and 27 (illustrated). NOTE: For almost sixty years, Phillip Bruno has been a cosmopolitan and conspicuous presence on the New York and international art scene. Born in Paris, a city that would shape and influence his artistic sensibilities, he was raised in the United States, where it quickly became apparent that his life was destined to be driven by creativity. Bruno first worked with Weyhe Gallery and then as an associate director for Grace Borgenicht. Through his travels in Mexico, he got to know the great muralist David Siqueiros and his pupil Jose Luis Cuevas, organizing a joint exhibition for them in Paris. He also worked for World House Galleries whose clients included major collectors such as Roy Neuberger, Joseph Hirshhorn and Duncan Phillips This was followed by thirty years as co-director of Staempfli Gallery, culminating with the final phase of his career at the prestigious Marlborough Gallery in New York from 1989-2007. An enthusiastic and discerning collector, Bruno has helped innumerable artists by carefully acquiring their works, and placing them with museums around the world. Among the American Modernist works that he assembled over the years, those by Charles Demuth held a special place in his collection, as exemplified by the two following watercolor still lifes. Both executed in 1918, at the height of Demuth's exploration of the medium, the works masterfully capture the grace and fragility of each flower. Demuth first experimented with the medium of watercolor while in France and further explored it upon his return to the United States in 1914, mainly through floral and figural compositions. While Demuth's earlier pieces denote a certain flat, almost primitive expression, Cyclamen and Zinnias are striking in their crisp, minimalist execution. In each work, the artist leaves much of the paper untouched; the background is half defined and each flower is only lightly outlined. Yet both compositions are enlivened by the subtle, almost transparent washes that glow with jewel-like colors. Some fade into one another, while others strike by their intensity, misting up on the paper, thus creating a surface which is both rich and varied. At the time of these two compositions, Demuth was heavily influenced by Paul Cézanne Like the French Master, Demuth developed a keen attention to line and color, and pushed the boundaries of the picture plane, inventing new perspectives and suggesting unseen forms and spaces. Through their translucent coloring, subtle linear effects and soft modeling, Cyclamen and Zinnias are presented in all their delicacy and mystery, each flower subject to its own sensual, organic rhythm, as if Demuth's mission was to witness the true essence of the nature surrounding us, and