Dictionary
Precisionism
Within the movement of American Realism, Precisionism must be distinguished as a movement of its own right, it had its heyday in the years between the world wars. Main representatives of Precisionism were Ralston Crawford (1906-78), Charles Demuth (1883-1935), Preston Dickinson (1891-1930), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), Louis Lozowick (1892-1973) and Charles Sheeler (1883-1965).
The unifying and characteristic feature of Precisionism is in the choice of subjects. The preferred ones were large machines, turbines, skyscrapers, factory plants, industrial landscapes and chimneys. In accordance with the technoid, deserted and almost sterile subjects, the style employed by precisionist artists is very cool, the compositions are geometric, straight and sharp outlines make for a certain order in the picture's arrangement - this is where the clear influence of Cubism and Futurism can be observed. The color palette is dominated by subdued colors, with moderate shades of white, gray and brown. The artists often used photographs as their guideline, such as Georgia O'Keeffe, who was married to the gallery owner and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. It was only the oeuvre of Georgia O'Keeffe that also comprised floral and vegetable subjects: close-up depictions of blossoms withdraw from a realistic style by means of an extreme enlargement, thus attaining a certain abstraction, which is also underlined by the expressive coloring, therefor the artist occupies a special position within Precisionism.
Within the movement of American Realism, Precisionism must be distinguished as a movement of its own right, it had its heyday in the years between the world wars. Main representatives of Precisionism were Ralston Crawford (1906-78), Charles Demuth (1883-1935), Preston Dickinson (1891-1930), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), Louis Lozowick (1892-1973) and Charles Sheeler (1883-1965).
The unifying and characteristic feature of Precisionism is in the choice of subjects. The preferred ones were large machines, turbines, skyscrapers, factory plants, industrial landscapes and chimneys. In accordance with the technoid, deserted and almost sterile subjects, the style employed by precisionist artists is very cool, the compositions are geometric, straight and sharp outlines make for a certain order in the picture's arrangement - this is where the clear influence of Cubism and Futurism can be observed. The color palette is dominated by subdued colors, with moderate shades of white, gray and brown. The artists often used photographs as their guideline, such as Georgia O'Keeffe, who was married to the gallery owner and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. It was only the oeuvre of Georgia O'Keeffe that also comprised floral and vegetable subjects: close-up depictions of blossoms withdraw from a realistic style by means of an extreme enlargement, thus attaining a certain abstraction, which is also underlined by the expressive coloring, therefor the artist occupies a special position within Precisionism.
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