Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide by Bill Prochazka. Color corrected by Pat C…

Shaker Buildings

Artist Charles Sheeler (American, 1883-1965)

CultureAmerican

Date1934

MediumTempera and graphite on gesso panel

Dimensions9 7/8 x 13 7/8 in. (25.1 x 35.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 14 x 18 x 2 in. (35.6 x 45.7 x 5.1 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower left: Sheeler--1934; Signed lower right (and subsequently painted over): Sheeler

Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Donor

Object number80.224

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis tempera and graphite painting on gesso panel depicts the spare design of a Shaker building in Hancock, Massachusetts. The simple white clapboard structure serves as the wash house for the Shakers. There is nothing in the foreground. Moving into the background, the subject--the uniformly painted white buildings--creates a primarily white canvas. The exception to the white is the green grass, pale blue sky, and small brown building.

Label TextCharles Sheeler American, 1883–1965 Shaker Buildings, 1934 Tempera and graphite on gesso panel Charles Sheeler described the clean and sturdy shapes of these country buildings as examples of “utilitarian design” and “rightness of proportion.” Built in the 1790s, the large white structure seen here served at different times as a machine shop, mill, laundry, and infirmary for the village of Hancock, Massachusetts, home to a pious and frugal Christian sect called the Shakers. Sheeler and other modern artists praised Shaker-style architecture and furniture design for its simple and unadorned character. The painter saw a similar timeless purity and functional beauty in the bold, blocky forms of new skyscrapers and factories, other frequent subjects in his work. Gift of an Anonymous Donor 80.224 ProvenancePurchased 1937 from Downtown Gallery by Mrs. Stanley Resor;...; Given as a gift from Mrs. Resor to the anonymous donor, 1938; Gift of an Anonymous Donor to the Chrysler Museum, 1980. Exhibition History"Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs," Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., 1939. (Exh. cat. no. 32) "Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition," Art Galleries, Los Angeles, Calif., 1954. (Exh. cat. no. 18) "Charles Sheeler," National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C., October 10 - November 24, 1968; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pa., January 10 - February 16, 1969; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, N.Y., March 11 - April 27, 1969. (Exh. cat. no. 74) "Recent Accessions," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., December, 1980. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published References"Sheeler Finds Beauty in the Commonplace," _Life_ 4 (August 8, 1938): 42-45. William Carlos Williams, introduction, _Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs_, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., 1939, no. 32. Essays by Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr. and Frederick S. Wight, with a foreword by William Carlos Williams, _Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition_, exh. cat., Art Galleries, Los Angeles, Calif., 1954, 26, 45, no. 18. Essays by Martin Friedman, Bartlett Hayes and Charles Millard, _Charles Sheeler_, exh. cat., National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C., 1968, 125, no. 74. Thomas W. Styron, "American Paintings," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 10, no. 12 (December 1980), n.p. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_, (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 101. Neil MacGregor, editor, "Museum Acquisitions of Twentieth Century Art (1980-82)," _The Burlington Magazine_ 124 (September 1982): 594, fig. 62. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 186, plate 140. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 186-187, no. 117. William D. Moore, _Shaker Fever: America's Twentieth-Century Fascination with a Communitarian Sect_ (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020) 296, fig. 6.3.