Amaryllis (c. 1923): Art, History and Details

Amaryllis (c. 1923) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Amaryllis
• Date: c. 1923
• Creator attribution: Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935)
• Culture: America
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: watercolor over graphite
• Dimensions: Sheet: 45.8 x 30.4 cm (18 1/16 x 11 15/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - American 20th Century
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1923.2490

A detail from the museum

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.

Collection credit

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Haskell, Barbara. Charles Demuth. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1987.
• Gerdts, William H. American Still-Life Painting, 1913-1967. Exh. Cat. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1967.
• McBride, Henry. Charles Demuth Memorial Exhibition. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.