The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist

Book Description
Considered one of the most significant American painters of the period between the two world wars, and founder of the precisionist school, Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) was also one of the pivotal photographers of the modernist movement in this country. His direct style can be likened to that of contemporaries Paul Strand, and Edward Weston. Sheeler is perhaps best-known for documenting the transformation of the American industrial landscape (in both painting and photography), and for an early series of photographs of his Doylestown, PA, house. A major retrospective dedicated to Sheeler's work is being organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and this book will serve as the catalog.

About the Author
Gilles Mora is an independent French curator who has produced a series of important photography catalogues including Edward Weston: Forms of Passion (1995) and Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye (1993). Karen Haas is Curator of The Lane Collection, overseeing more than 5,000 photographs on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


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This monograph presents the often-overlooked photographic work of Charles Sheeler. It opens with his Cubist-inspired architectural images of the 1910s, moves on to the highly abstract nude studies and dramatic New York City views from around 1920, and culminates in the series devoted to the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant in 1927, a project that established modern industrial iconography. Also featured are his stunning images of the Chartres cathedral done in 1929 and images of American industry made for Fortune magazine in 1939. Freely experimenting with the possibilities of the medium, Sheeler paved the way for other innovative photographers such as Walker Evans. This volume also investigates the links between the photographer and the painter Charles Sheeler - as he employed both media in the process of visual creation.


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