PRESTON DICKINSON (American, 1891-1930). Still Life with Condiments (The Provolone Cheese), circa 1925. Pastel on paper ...

Description

PRESTON DICKINSON (American, 1891-1930)
Still Life with Condiments (The Provolone Cheese), circa 1925
Pastel on paper laid down on paper
17 x 23-1/2 inches (43.2 x 59.7 cm)

PROVENANCE:
The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1964;
Owen Gallery, New York.

EXHIBITED:
Birnam Wood Galleries, New York, "Modern Life: American Paintings between the Wars", July 5 - August 5, 2007.

With the financial assistance of philanthropist Henry Harby and future gallery owner Charles Daniel, New York native Preston Dickinson moved to Paris at the turn of the 20th century, where he was influenced by the avant-garde artists Paul Cézanne, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris. During this period, he studied at the École des Beaux Arts and the Académie Julian and exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Françaises and the Salon des Indépendants.

Upon his return to New York, Dickinson applied the Cubism he had learned in Paris to distinctly American subjects, including modern architecture and industry. His emphasis on the American scene and his tightly controlled use of line linked him with the Precisionists, notably Charles Sheeler and Charles Demuth, with whom he exhibited at the Charles Daniel Gallery.

In Still Life with Condiments, Dickinson's innovative technique - a combination of Cubism and Precisionism - accentuates the geometric core of the assembled objects: circular plate, spherical peach, rectangular place mat and knife, and cylindrical salami, bread loaf, salt shaker, and tumbler. Here, Dickinson also carefully juxtaposes textures, from the hardness of the wood table and metallic knife to the luminosity of the glass vessels, to the fleshiness of the oversized fruit.


More information about PRESTON DICKINSON. See also: Dickinson, Preston, Preston Dickinson Artist.

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