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CHARLES DEMUTH. I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold

I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold. Artist: Charles Demuth (American, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 1883-1935 Lancaster, Pennsylvania). Dimensions: 35 1/2 x 30 in. (90.2 x 76.2 cm). Date: 1928. Demuth completed eight abstract portraits between 1924 and 1929 as tributes to modern American artists, writers, and performers. Though not a physical likeness, Demuth created this portrait of his friend, the poet and physician William Carlos Williams, using imagery from Williams's poem "The Great Figure," which evokes the sights and sounds of a fire engine speeding down the street. The intersecting lines, repeated "5," round forms of the numbers, lights, street lamp, and blaring sirens of the red fire engine together infuse the painting with a vibrant, urban energy. Demuth derived the title from the poem, which reads: Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city.
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Author:
Title:
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
Caption:
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold. Artist: Charles Demuth (American, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 1883-1935 Lancaster, Pennsylvania). Dimensions: 35 1/2 x 30 in. (90.2 x 76.2 cm). Date: 1928. Demuth completed eight abstract portraits between 1924 and 1929 as tributes to modern American artists, writers, and performers. Though not a physical likeness, Demuth created this portrait of his friend, the poet and physician William Carlos Williams, using imagery from Williams's poem "The Great Figure," which evokes the sights and sounds of a fire engine speeding down the street. The intersecting lines, repeated "5," round forms of the numbers, lights, street lamp, and blaring sirens of the red fire engine together infuse the painting with a vibrant, urban energy. Demuth derived the title from the poem, which reads: Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city.
Technique/material:
Oil, graphite, ink, and gold leaf on paperboard (Upson board)
Museum:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Credit:
Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Releases:
Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?
Image size:
4911 x 6003 px | 84.3 MB
Print size:
41.6 x 50.8 cm | 16.4 x 20.0 in (300 dpi)
Keywords: