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Spring

A work made of oil and graphite on canvas.

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  • A work made of oil and graphite on canvas.

Date:

1921

Artist:

Charles Demuth
American, 1883–1935

About this artwork

In Spring Charles Demuth depicted the sample cards used to advertise new spring fabrics. Pablo Picasso was the first to create such painted collages—a practice called Synthetic Cubism. Although Demuth saw examples of the style in both New York and Paris, he only experimented with it once, in this work. Here his subject allowed him to construct the ideal modernist painting by using overlapping planes that remain faithful to the canvas’s inherent flatness. However, the sample cards also connect his picture to everyday concerns. By titling his painting Spring, Demuth wryly highlighted the new reality of American life, in which the changing of seasons was heralded not by nature but by commerce.

Status

On View, Gallery 271

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Charles Demuth

Title

Spring

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1921

Medium

Oil and graphite on canvas

Dimensions

56.2 × 61.3 cm (22 1/8 × 24 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Through prior gift of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation

Reference Number

1989.231

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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