Charles Sheeler
| Charles Sheeler | |
|---|---|
Charles Sheeler standing next to a window. c. 1910.
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| Born |
July 16, 1883 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | May 7, 1965 (aged 81) Dobbs Ferry, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Modern art, Photography |
| Movement | Precisionism, American Modernism |
Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American painter and commercial photographer. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.
Charles Rettrew Sheeler Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art from 1900 to 1903, and then the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under William Merritt Chase. He found early success as a painter and exhibited at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908. Most of his education was drawing and other applied arts. He went to Italy with other students. Where he was intrigued by the Italian painters of the Middle Ages such as Giotto and Piero della Francesca. Later he was inspired by works of Cubist artists like Picasso and Braque In 1909, he went to Paris, just when the popularity of Cubism was skyrocketing as he was inspired by works of Cubist artists like Picasso and Braque.Returning to the United States, he realized that he would not be able to make a living with Modernist painting. Instead, he took up commercial photography, focusing particularly on architectural subjects. He was a self-taught photographer, learning his trade on a five dollar Brownie. When starting out, he was dramatically impacted by the death of his close friend named Schamberg who paints great machine paintings that portrays technology in a great light. He became to admire the technology. His first use of technology was photography in order to support himself as a painter, making him self-taught in the medium. His work made him prominent in describing human progress with modern technology iconic.
Sheeler owned a farmhouse in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, about 39 miles outside Philadelphia. He shared it with his longtime friend the artist Morton Schamberg (1881–1918), who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. He was so fond of the home's 19th century stove that he called it his "companion" and made it a subject of his photographs. The farmhouse serves a prominent role in many of his photographs, including shots of the bedroom and kitchen and stairway. At one point he was quoted as calling it "my cloister."
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