Precisionism
Encyclopedia
Precisionism, also known as Cubist Realism, was an artistic movement that emerged in the United States
after World War I
and was at its height during the inter-War period. The term itself was first coined in the early 1920s.
and Futurism
, its main themes included industrialization and the modernization of the American landscape, which were depicted in precise, sharply defined, geometrical forms. The themes originated from the streamlined architecture and machinery of the early 1900s. Precision artists considered themselves strictly American and tried to avoid European artistic influences. There is a degree of reverence for the industrial age in the movement, but social commentary was not fundamental to the style. The degree of abstraction
in the movement ranged considerably from Charles Demuth
's famous The Figure 5 in Gold from 1928; to Charles Sheeler
's work that sometimes verged on the photorealistic. In addition to his paintings Charles Sheeler also created photographs of factories and industrial buildings as did his friend the photographer Paul Strand
.
Elsie Driggs
, Francis Criss
, Charles Demuth
, Edward Hopper
, Charles Sheeler
, Herman Trunk
and Georgia O'Keeffe
were prominent Precisionists. George Ault
, Ralston Crawford
, Preston Dickinson
, Louis Lozowick
, Gerald Murphy, Niles Spencer, Joseph Stella
, Stuart Davis
Peter Blume
, Virginia Berresford
, Henry Billings John Storrs
, and Miklos Suba, Francis Criss
, and the photographer Paul Strand
were other artists associated with the hard-edged style of Precisionism. The movement had no presence outside the United States, and although no manifesto was ever created, the artists themselves were a close group who were active throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and exhibited together. Georgia O'Keeffe
, especially with paintings like New York Night, 1928-29, remained connected to Precisionist ideals until the 1960s, although her best-known works are not closely related to Precisionism, and it would be inaccurate to state that O'Keeffe was entirely aligned with Precisionism. Her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz
, was a highly regarded mentor for the group.
Precisionist artists have also been referred to as "Cubist-Realists", "Sterilists", and "Immaculates". Their art would have an influence on the magic realism
and pop art
movements.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and was at its height during the inter-War period. The term itself was first coined in the early 1920s.
American movement
Influenced strongly by CubismCubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and Futurism
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
, its main themes included industrialization and the modernization of the American landscape, which were depicted in precise, sharply defined, geometrical forms. The themes originated from the streamlined architecture and machinery of the early 1900s. Precision artists considered themselves strictly American and tried to avoid European artistic influences. There is a degree of reverence for the industrial age in the movement, but social commentary was not fundamental to the style. The degree of abstraction
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
in the movement ranged considerably from Charles Demuth
Charles Demuth
Charles Demuth was an American watercolorist who turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism....
's famous The Figure 5 in Gold from 1928; to Charles Sheeler
Charles Sheeler
Charles Rettew Sheeler, Jr. was an American artist. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.-Early life and career:...
's work that sometimes verged on the photorealistic. In addition to his paintings Charles Sheeler also created photographs of factories and industrial buildings as did his friend the photographer Paul Strand
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
.
Precisionists
Elsie Driggs
Elsie Driggs was an American painter mostly known for her contributions to the Precisionism movement of the 1920s, as well as her floral and figurative paintings in watercolor, pastels, and oils later on in her career...
, Francis Criss
Francis Criss
Francis Hyman Criss was an American painter. Criss's style is associated with the American Precisionists like Charles Demuth and his friend Charles Sheeler.Criss was born in London and immigrated with his family at age 4...
, Charles Demuth
Charles Demuth
Charles Demuth was an American watercolorist who turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism....
, Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...
, Charles Sheeler
Charles Sheeler
Charles Rettew Sheeler, Jr. was an American artist. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.-Early life and career:...
, Herman Trunk
Herman Trunk
Herman Trunk , also known as Herman Trunk Jr., was an American painter active in the modernist movement of the 1920s and 1930s. He exhibited alongside some of the most famous artists of the day...
and Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
were prominent Precisionists. George Ault
George Ault
George Copeland Ault was an American painter. He was loosely grouped with the Precisionist movement and, though influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, his most lasting work is of a realist nature....
, Ralston Crawford
Ralston Crawford
Ralston Crawford was an American abstract painter, lithographer, and photographer.-Early life:He was born on September 5, 1906, in Canada, at St. Catharines, Ontario, and spent his childhood in Buffalo, New York. He studied art beginning in 1927 in California at the Otis Art Institute. After...
, Preston Dickinson
Preston Dickinson
William Preston Dickinson was an American modern artist, best known for his paintings of industrial subjects in the Precisionist style.-Biography:...
, Louis Lozowick
Louis Lozowick
Louis Lozowick was an American painter and a printmaker. He was born in Russian Empire , came to United States in 1906, and died in New Jersey in 1973...
, Gerald Murphy, Niles Spencer, Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella was an Italian-born, American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America. He is associated with the American Precisionism movement of the 1910s-1940s....
, Stuart Davis
Stuart Davis (painter)
Stuart Davis , was an early American modernist painter. He was well known for his jazz influenced, proto pop art paintings of the 1940s and 1950s, bold, brash, and colorful as well as his ashcan pictures in the early years of the 20th century.-Biography:He was born in Philadelphia to Edward Wyatt...
Peter Blume
Peter Blume
Peter Blume was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of folk art, precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism.-Biography:...
, Virginia Berresford
Virginia Berresford
Virginia Berresford was a printer, printmaker and an art gallery owner.-Life:She studied at Wellesley College in 1921, and Teachers College, Columbia University in 1923 with Charles Martin....
, Henry Billings John Storrs
John Storrs
John Storrs , also known as John Henry Bradley Storrs, John Bradley Storrs and John H. Storrs, was an American modernist sculptor....
, and Miklos Suba, Francis Criss
Francis Criss
Francis Hyman Criss was an American painter. Criss's style is associated with the American Precisionists like Charles Demuth and his friend Charles Sheeler.Criss was born in London and immigrated with his family at age 4...
, and the photographer Paul Strand
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
were other artists associated with the hard-edged style of Precisionism. The movement had no presence outside the United States, and although no manifesto was ever created, the artists themselves were a close group who were active throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and exhibited together. Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
, especially with paintings like New York Night, 1928-29, remained connected to Precisionist ideals until the 1960s, although her best-known works are not closely related to Precisionism, and it would be inaccurate to state that O'Keeffe was entirely aligned with Precisionism. Her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
, was a highly regarded mentor for the group.
Precisionist artists have also been referred to as "Cubist-Realists", "Sterilists", and "Immaculates". Their art would have an influence on the magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
and pop art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
movements.
Further reading
- Friedman, M. (1960). The precisionist view in American art. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center.
- Harnsberger, R.S. (1992). Ten precisionist artists : annotated bibliographies [Art Reference Collection no. 14]. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
- Precisionism in America, 1915-1941 : reordering reality. (1994). New York: Abrams.
- Tsujimoto, K. (1982). Images of America : precisionist painting and modern photography. Seattle: University of Washington Press.