The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Amaryllis

c. 1923

Charles Demuth

(American, 1883–1935)

America, 20th century

Watercolor over graphite

Support: Cream(3) wove paper

Sheet: 45.8 x 30.4 cm (18 1/16 x 11 15/16 in.)

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1923.2490

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This watercolor was purchased by the museum during its first exhibition, at Daniel Gallery in New York, and was one of the first works by Charles Demuth to enter a public museum collection.

Description

Still-life was one of Charles Demuth's favorite genres, and he created works on this theme throughout his career. This drawing of a blooming amaryllis was completed while the artist was convalescing with diabetes in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Because of his physical weakness, he was limited to working in watercolor, a less demanding medium than painting, and to subjects that he could easily observe, such as flowers. Demuth drew the amaryllis's form in graphite and then brushed on watercolor precisely, using a blotter to develop the pebbly texture seen throughout.

Provenance
1923
(Daniel Gallery, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1
1923-
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Provenance Footnotes

1 Farnham 1959 (583, no. 435) incorrectly listed Hinman B. Hurlbut as an owner, her confusion arising because the drawing was purchased with a fund bearing his name. Hurlbut died in 1888.
Citations
Haskell, Barbara. Charles Demuth. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 79
Gerdts, William H. American Still-Life Painting, 1913-1967. Exh. Cat. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1967. Mentioned: no. 6
McBride, Henry. Charles Demuth Memorial Exhibition. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937 Mentioned: no. 63
Charles Demuth: Exhibition of Water Colors and Oil Paintings. Exh. Cat. Washington, D.C.: Phillips Memorial Gallery, 1942. Mentioned: no. 21
Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff. Charles Demuth. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1950. Mentioned: pp. 78, 92, no. 123; Reproduced: p. 78
Farnham, Emily. "Charles Demuth: His Life, Psychology and Works." Ph.D. diss. Ohio State University, 1959. Mentioned: p. 583, no. 435; Reproduced: p. 862
Charles Demuth of Lancaster. Exh. Cat. Harrisburg, PA: William Penn Memorial Museum, 1966. Mentioned: no. 94
Farnham, Emily. Charles Demuth: Behind a Laughing Mask. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. Mentioned: p. 149
Gedhard, David and Phyllis Plous. Charles Demuth: The Mechanical Encrusted on the Living. Exh. Cat. Santa Barbara, CA: Art Galleries, University of California, 1971. Mentioned: p. 83, no. 85
Adams, Celeste, Rita Myers, Adele Z. Silver. An Introduction to American Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972. Mentioned: p. 18; Reproduced: p. 19
Anderson, Dennis R. American Flower Painting. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1980. Mentioned: p. 64; Reproduced: p. 65
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: p. 12, pp. 242-243, 297; Reproduced: p. 243
Exhibition history

Charles Demuth: The Mechanical Encrusted on the Living. Art Galleries, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA (October 5 - November 14, 1971); University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley (November 22, 1971 - January 3, 1972); Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (January 19 - February 29, 1972); Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (March 19 - April 16, 1972).

American Still-Life Painting, 1913-1967. Cedar Rapids Art Center, Cedar Rapids, IA (October 6 - October 27, 1967); Roberson Memorial Center, Binghamton, NY (November 10 - December 1, 1967); Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV (December 15 - January 5, 1967); Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (January 19 - February 9, 1968); Flint Institute of Arts, DeWaters Art Center, Flint, MI (February 23 - March 15, 1968); Mansfield Fine Arts Guild, Inc., Mansfield, OH (March 29 - April 19, 1968); Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA (May 8 - May 29, 1968); Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Art Center, Kalamazoo, MI (June 7 - June 28, 1968); Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (July 12 - August 2, 1968); Dulin Gallery of Art, College of Arts and Crafts, Knoxville, TN (September 20 - October 10, 1968); University of Maryland, College Park, MD (October 24 - November 14, 1968).

Charles Demuth of Lancaster. William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, PA (September 24 - November 6, 1966).

Charles Demuth. Museum of Modern Art, New York (March 7 - June 11, 1950).

Charles Demuth: Exhibition of Water Colors and Oil Paintings. Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C. (May 3 - May 25, 1942).

Charles Demuth Memorial Exhibition. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (December 15, 1937 - January 16, 1938).

Contemporary American Watercolors. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 12, 1923 - January 27, 1924).

Watercolors by Charles Demuth. Daniel Gallery, New York (November - December 1923).
As The Lily; there was apparently no catalogue; that the work was in this show is indicated by CMA records, which state the piece was "Bought from Exhibition in November-December 1923 at Daniel Gallery, New York." Daniel's bill of sale to the CMA is dated November 28, 1923.

Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Exhibition of the Month: The Floral Motif in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29-September 30, 1947).

Horticulture Motifs in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 9-April 24, 1955).

Water Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 6-August 27, 1962).

Charles Demuth. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA (September 24-November 6, 1966).

Charles Demuth: The Mechanical Encrusted on the Living. Art, Design & Architecture Museum, Santa Barbara, CA (organizer) (October 5-November 7, 1971); Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (November 22, 1971-January 3, 1972); The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (January 19-February 29, 1972); Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (March 19-April 16, 1972).

America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).

Charles Demuth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (February 25-April 24, 1988).

Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).

Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1923.2490