id: 172894 accession number: 1923.2490 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.2490 updated: Amaryllis, c. 1923. Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935). Watercolor over graphite; sheet: 45.8 x 30.4 cm (18 1/16 x 11 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1923.2490 title: Amaryllis title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1923 creation date earliest: 1918 creation date latest: 1928 current location: creditline: Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection copyright: --- culture: America, 20th century technique: watercolor over graphite department: Drawings collection: DR - American 20th Century type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 45.8 x 30.4 cm (18 1/16 x 11 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: cream(3) wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today opening date: 1937-06-23T04:00:00 Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937). title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Exhibition of the Month: The Floral Motif in Art opening date: 1947-07-29T04:00:00 Exhibition of the Month: The Floral Motif in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29-September 30, 1947). title: Horticulture Motifs in Art opening date: 1955-03-09T05:00:00 Horticulture Motifs in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 9-April 24, 1955). title: Water Color opening date: 1962-06-06T04:00:00 Water Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 6-August 27, 1962). title: Charles Demuth opening date: 1966-09-24T04:00:00 Charles Demuth. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA (September 24-November 6, 1966). title: Charles Demuth: The Mechanical Encrusted on the Living opening date: 1971-10-05T04:00:00 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). title: America Draws opening date: 1984-12-28T05:00:00 America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985). title: Charles Demuth opening date: 1987-10-15T04:00:00 Charles Demuth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (February 25-April 24, 1988). title: Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988 opening date: 1991-04-02T04:00:00 Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). title: Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2000-08-27T00:00:00 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). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * 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. --- PROVENANCE (Daniel Gallery, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: 1923 footnotes: *
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: The Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1923- footnotes: citations: --- 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. digital 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. wall description: One of four watercolors by Charles Demuth in the museum's collection, this luminous blooming amaryllis shows a different aspect of his work than the scene of dancing sailors on view nearby. Still life forms one of the major categories of Demuth's art, and he created this one while convalescing from a bout of diabetes in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This work shows his refined, meticulous control of the normally washy, free medium of watercolor: he first drew the flower form in graphite and then brushed on the color with precise applications, using a blotter to develop the pebbly texture that is a hallmark of his technique. This watercolor was purchased by the museum directly from an exhibition at the Daniel Gallery in New York and became one of the first works by Demuth to enter a public museum collection. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Haskell, Barbara. Charles Demuth. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1987. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 79 url: Gerdts, William H. American Still-Life Painting, 1913-1967. Exh. Cat. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1967. page number: Mentioned: no. 6 url: McBride, Henry. Charles Demuth Memorial Exhibition. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937 page number: Mentioned: no. 63 url: Charles Demuth: Exhibition of Water Colors and Oil Paintings. Exh. Cat. Washington, D.C.: Phillips Memorial Gallery, 1942. page number: Mentioned: no. 21 url: Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff. Charles Demuth. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1950. page number: Mentioned: pp. 78, 92, no. 123; Reproduced: p. 78 url: Farnham, Emily. "Charles Demuth: His Life, Psychology and Works." Ph.D. diss. Ohio State University, 1959. page number: Mentioned: p. 583, no. 435; Reproduced: p. 862 url: Charles Demuth of Lancaster. Exh. Cat. Harrisburg, PA: William Penn Memorial Museum, 1966. page number: Mentioned: no. 94 url: Farnham, Emily. Charles Demuth: Behind a Laughing Mask. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. page number: Mentioned: p. 149 url: Gedhard, David and Phyllis Plous. Charles Demuth: The Mechanical Encrusted on the Living. Exh. Cat. Santa Barbara, CA: Art Galleries, University of California, 1971. page number: Mentioned: p. 83, no. 85 url: Adams, Celeste, Rita Myers, Adele Z. Silver. An Introduction to American Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972. page number: Mentioned: p. 18; Reproduced: p. 19 url: Anderson, Dennis R. American Flower Painting. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1980. page number: Mentioned: p. 64; Reproduced: p. 65 url: DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. page number: Mentioned: p. 12, pp. 242-243, 297; Reproduced: p. 243 url: --- IMAGES