Charles Demuth, MoMa, 1950 Art Book

Vintage exhibition catalogue published by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1950, dedicated to the American modernist painter Charles Demuth. A rare and collectible art book documenting one of the key figures of Precisionism and American modernism. An essential reference for collectors of mid-century art publications. An early MoMA book on artist Charles Demuth. "One of the finest American artists of the twentieth century, Demuth brought to American painting a sensibility, cultivation, wit, and daring which were rare in his generation. He was a master of the unpretentious but difficult medium of watercolor, handling it sometimes with deceptive casualness and at others with virtuoso clarity and precision. De-tached, curious, keenly observant, Demuth was interested in many things and painted what interested him most: Aowers from the family garden, cafés, bars, vaudeville entertainers, passages from Zola, james or Poe, colonial buildings of New England and his native Pennsylvania, or the factories, smoke stacks and water towers of modern industry. Yet he was far too sensitive and exacting a formalist to be described as merely a reporter of the American scene. This is the first monograph of the artist to consider Demuth in relation to the expatriate tradition of the American artist and to examine his work in the light of the hedonistic disillusion of the post-war 1 period. Mr. Ritchie traces deftly the growth of Demuth's personal style from his student work to the end of his career in 1934, touching on all the influences that helped to form it. Special emphasis is placed on Demuth's remarkable gifts as an interpreter of literature. All his known illustrations are reproduced with accompanying texts: the now famous interpretations of Henry James, as well as many illustrations for Zola, Poe and Franz Wedekind, most of which are reproduced for the first time." Condition Good condition with some damage to top or spine and some wear to dust jacket. The interior is clean with intact binding. Dimensions (approx) 7.75" x 10.25" x 0.5"