Charles Sheeler
American
Charles Sheeler initially trained as a portrait painter at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. After traveling to Italy and France in 1909, he became interested in the work of Paul Cézanne. After returning to Philadelphia, Sheeler eventually took up photography. His work as a photographer served as the foundation for the development of his Precisionist painting style, which emphasized regularity, planar surfaces, and an application of paint that denied the artist’s hand.
Born
1883
Died
1965
Where does nostalgia come from?
This painting was based on a photograph that Sheeler took as part of a commission from Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, who hired him to document the recently restored Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia in 1935. This interior depicted the reconstruction of the kitchen in the Governor’s Palace—the original building, left in ruins by a fire in 1781, was rebuilt and elegantly furnished in the Colonial Revival style in the 1930s.
Medium
Oil on hardboard
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
Item ID
1993.35.24
Dimensions
10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Date
1937
Country
Artist name
Charles Sheeler