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Business

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 1921 Charles Demuth returned to his native Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and began painting its industrial landscape. This starkly rectilinear composition depicts a building head-on. In choosing a flat subject that mimics the surface of the canvas, Demuth embraced the modernist ideal of unifying form and content. A member of the Dadaist circle in New York, Demuth also added a touch of characteristic Dada irreverence to his picture, painting a calendar onto the building’s windows to highlight the inherent repetition and boredom of modern business. At his death, Demuth bequeathed Business to his long-time friend and supporter Georgia O’Keeffe.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Charles Demuth

Title

Business

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

Inscriptions

Signed and dated lower right: Demuth / 1921

Dimensions

51 × 61.5 cm (20 × 24 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection

Reference Number

1949.529

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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