Flower Forms

Charles Sheeler’s last fully realized abstract composition, Flower Forms suggests the sensuously intertwined roots, stems, and leaves of plants in abstract forms that evoke the essence of organic life. Described in smoothly rounded contours and precise edges, these bulbous, sculptural shapes hint at the elemental correspondence between vegetable life and the internal organs and ducts of the animal body. Sheeler maintained that his choice of colors in the painting was “arbitrary,” but the rich greens and shades of burnt sienna and creamy white, suggestive of the actual hues of plant parts, maintain the composition’s connection to nature. Sheeler’s painting may reflect recent advances in the biological sciences that heightened popular awareness of the unseen processes and structures occurring beneath nature’s surfaces and on a microscopic level. The relatively intimate scale of the work complements its suggestion of close-up scrutiny of the unseen but ever-present natural world.

Flower Forms is richly suggestive in its lack of specificity. Its rounded, curving, and folded forms evoke not only plant life but the curvaceous exterior of the female body. In the two years after he painted this work, Sheeler made a series of close-up photographic studies of the nude torso of his wife, Katherine, that focus closely on her reclining body’s bent limbs and folds of soft flesh. On the boundary between abstract and representational, Flower Forms, like these photographs, represents a turning point in Sheeler’s development as an artist: after a decade of experimentation in various modernist styles, he embraced nature and the world around him through the probing portrayal of fundamental organization. Sheeler had come to understand art itself as the search for and expression of such structure. Both mysterious and scientific, abstract and precisely objective, Flower Forms anticipates Sheeler’s detached, precisionist vision of the world around him in his mature paintings.

In its layered references to forms in the natural world, Flower Forms reflects a distinctly American approach to the modernist search for new subjects and means of expression. In addition to urbanism and mechanization, Sheeler and other American modernists looked to nature and the native landscape in their search for fundamental truths, particularly after the outbreak of war in Europe, in 1914. Painted as the United States was drawn into the overseas conflict, Flower Forms suggests an escape into the life-affirming certainties of nature’s relentless, spontaneous vitality.

The importance of Flower Forms both in Sheeler’s career and in American modernist art has long been recognized. It was purchased first by the important modernist collector John Quinn (1870–1924) and later sold to the Philadelphia artist and collector Earl Horter (1881–1940). Sheeler himself chose to include Flower Forms in several retrospective exhibitions. The painting remains in its original frame.

Exhibition of the Work of Charles Sheeler, M. de Zayas, New York, New York, February 16–28, 1920, no. 6.

Abstract Painting in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, February 12–March 2, 1935, cat. 104. [exh. cat.]

Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, October 4–November 1, 1939. [exh. cat.]

Pioneers of Modern Art in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, April 9–May 30, 1946; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 1–21, 1946; The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts, August 1–21, 1946; Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Wilmington, Delaware, September 1–22, 1946; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, October 2–22, 1946; Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C., November 3–30, 1946; Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 5–26, 1946; M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California, January 5–26, 1947; The St. Paul Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, February 6–26, 1947; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, April 10–30, 1947; The Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, May 10–30, 1947. [exh. cat.]

Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition, Art Galleries of the University of California, Los Angeles, California (organizer). Venues: Art Galleries of the University of California, Los Angeles, California, October 11–November 7, 1954; M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California, November 20, 1954–January 2, 1955; San Diego Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, California, January 12–February 10, 1955; Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 7–May 1, 1955; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, May 8–23, 1955. [exh. cat.]

Charles Sheeler, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venue: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 10, 1968–April 27, 1969. [exh. cat.]

Avant-Garde Painting & Sculpture in America, 1910–1925, Department of Art History and Division of Museum Studies, University of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware (organizer). Venue: Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware, April 4–May 18, 1975. [exh. cat.]

Philadelphia, Three Centuries of American Art: Bicentennial Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 11–October 10, 1976. [exh. cat.]

The Noble Buyer: John Quinn, Patron of the Avant-Garde, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venue: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 15–September 4, 1978. [exh. cat]

Reflections of Nature: Flowers in American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer) Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, March 1–May 20, 1984. [exh. cat.]

The Elite and Popular Appeal of the Art of Charles Sheeler, The Woodmere Art Gallery, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, April 1986. [exh. cat.]

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, October 13, 1987–January 3, 1988; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, January 28–April 17, 1988; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, May 15–July 10, 1988. [exh. cat.]

Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.

On Process: Studio Themes, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 4, 2001.

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–July 1, 2001.

Selections from the Permanent Collection: American Moderns, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 14–October 7, 2001.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 2003.

Debating American Modernism: Stieglitz, Duchamp, and the New York Avant-Garde, American Federation of Arts, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 30–November 30, 2003. [exh. cat.]

American Classics, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 13, 2003–February 8, 2004.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Manifest Destiny, Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Loyola University Museum of Art, May 17–August 10, 2008. [exh. cat.]

Sheeler, Charles. Autobiography. Unpublished, no date. Text p. 47.

Charles Sheeler Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Artist File, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Watson, Forbes. "Charles Sheeler." The Arts Magazine 3:5 (May 1923): 338–41. Text pp. 338, 341; ill. p. 337 (black & white).

John Quinn Ledger and John Quinn Inventory. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1924.

Cheney, Sheldon. A Primer of Modern Art. Seventh edition. New York: Boni and Liveright Publishers, 1924. Ill. p. 223 (black & white).

John Quinn, 1870–1925: Collection of Paintings, Water Colors, Drawings and Sculpture. Huntington, New York: Pidgeon Hill Press, 1926. Text p. 25 (checklist as Flowers and Forms); ill. p. 181 (black & white as Flowers and Forms).

"Sale of the Quinn Collection Is Complete; Auction at the American Art Association Fine Step in Dispersal of the Most Famous Collection of Modern Art." The Art News 25:20 (February 19, 1927): 5–6. No. 68, p. 6.

Rourke, Constance. Charles Sheeler in the American Tradition. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1938. Text p. 66; ill. p. 35 (black & white).

"Modern Museum Enshrines Charles Sheeler." The Art Digest 14:2 (October 15, 1939): 5–6. Text p. 5.

Lane, James W. "Of Sheeler's Immaculatism." Art News 38:1 (October 7, 1939): 10. Text p. 10.

Genauer, Emily. "Charles Sheeler in One-Man Show: His Place in the Art World in Terms of His Own Philosophy." New York World-Telegram 72:84 (October 7, 1939): col. 1, p.34.

Charles Sheeler: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs. (exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art). New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1939. Text p. 10; ill. no. 9, p. 46 (black & white).

Jewell, Edward Alden. "Art-In the Realm of Art: The Season Gathers Momentum; Sheeler in Retrospect; The Museum of Modern Art Presents All Phases of the Artist's Achievements." The New York Times 89:29 (October 8, 1939): sect. 9, col. 2, p. 9. Text p. 9.

Goodrich, Lloyd. Pioneers of Modern Art in America. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1946. Text p. 27, no. 140 (checklist).

Rothe, Anna, ed. Charles Sheeler. Vol II. Current Biography, 1950: Who's News and Why. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1951. Text p. 553.

Williams, William Carlos et al. Charles Sheeler: A Retrospective Exhibition. (exh. cat., Art Galleries of the University of California, Los Angeles). Los Angeles, California: Art Galleries of the University of California, 1954. Text pp. 27, 45 (checklist); ill. p. 13 (black & white).

Wight, Frederick S. "Charles Sheeler." Art in America 42 (October 1954): 180–213. Text p. 197; ill. p. 183 (black & white).

Frankenstein, Alfred. "Music and Art—The Charles Sheeler Exhibition." San Francisco Chronicle 32:634 (November 28, 1954): "This World" section, 18:31, col. 2, p. 19.

Craven, George M. "Charles Sheeler: A Self Inventory in the Machine Age." Unpublished paper, Athens, Ohio, May 1957. Text p. 6.

Dochterman, Lillian Natalie. The Stylistic Development of the Work of Charles Sheeler. PhD dissertation, State University of Iowa, 1963. Cat. no. 19.070, p. 218.

Charles Sheeler. (exh. cat., National Collection of Fine Arts). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1968. Text pp. 14, 36; ill. no. 14, p.36 (black & white).

Avant-Garde Painting & Sculpture in America, 1910–1925. (exh. cat., Delaware Art Museum). Wilmington, Delaware: Delaware Art Museum, 1975. Text pp. 130, 174 (checklist); ill. p. 131 (black & white).

Friedman, Martin. Charles Sheeler. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1975. Text p. 31; pl. 5, p. 53 (color).

Philadelphia, Three Centuries of American Art: Bicentennial Exhibition. (exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976. Text no. 436, p. 514; ill. no. 436, p. 513.

Zilczer, Judith. The Noble Buyer: John Quinn, Patron of the Avant-Garde. (exh. cat., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978. Text p. 187 (checklist); ill. no. 74, p. 144 (color).

Thompson, Jan. "Picabia and His Influence on American Art." Art Journal 39:1 (Fall 1979): 14–21. Text p. 17; fig. 8, p. 17 (black & white).

Charles Sheeler—Classic Themes: Paintings, Drawings, and Photographs. (exh. cat., Terry Dintenfass, Inc.). New York: Terry Dintenfass, Inc., 1980. Text p. 16.

Driscoll, John. "Charles Sheeler's Early Work: Five Rediscovered Paintings." The Art Bulletin 62:1 (March 1980): 124–33. Text p.131; fig. 13, p. 132 (black & white).

Fillin-Yeh, Susan. Charles Sheeler and the Machine Age. PhD dissertation, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 1981. Text pp. xiii, 201, 248; pl. 72, p. 324.

Foshay, Ella M. Reflections of Nature: Flowers in American Art. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1984. Text pp. 68–71, 200 (checklist); fig. 49, p.69 (color).

The Elite and Popular Appeal of the Art of Charles Sheeler. (exh. cat., The Woodmere Art Gallery). New York: James Maroney, Inc., 1986. Text pp. 10, 11, 68–69; ill. no. 20, p. 67 (color).

Art in America 74:5 (May 1986): 18. Ill. p. 18 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-171, p. 280 (color).

Troyen, Carol and Erica E. Hirshler. Charles Sheeler: Paintings and Drawings. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, 1987. Text pp. 11, 76; ill. p. 77 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 10; fig. 111, p. 110 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 10; fig. 111, p. 110 (black & white).

The Journal of the American Medical Association Pakistan 5:2 (April 1993): cover. Ill. cover (color).

Shoemaker, Innis Howe. Mad for Modernism: Earl Horter and His Collection. (exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999. Ill. p. 121 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. American Moderns, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 18; fig. 5, p. 20 (black & white).

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 18; fig. 5, p. 20 (black & white).

Haas, Karen E. "Charles Sheeler and Film." The Magazine Antiques 162:5 (November 2002): 122–29. Text p. 125; pl. XII, p. 127 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 162, 203; ill. pp. 12 (color), 163 (color), 204 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 162, 203; ill. pp. 12 (color), 163 (color), 204 (black & white).

Bouhours, Jean-Michel, Bruce Posner, and Isabelle Ribadeau Dumas. En marge de Hollywood. La Première avant-garde cinématographique américaine, 1893–1941. Paris, France: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 2003. Ill. p. 89 (black & white).

Weems, Jason. Flower Forms, Charles Sheeler. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 2003. Ill. (color).

Rawlinson, Mark. Charles Sheeler: Modernism, Precisionism, and the Borders of Abstraction. London & New York: I. B. Tauris, 2007. Text pp. 8, 24, 29, 31, 42, 109; ill. Plate 1 (color).

Brownlee, Peter John. Manifest Destiny / Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. (exh. cat., Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art and Loyola University Museum of Art, 2008. Text pp. 26, 37 (checklist); ill. Pl. 3, p. 42 (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA III: Covers and Essays from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, Illinois: American Medical Association, 2011. Text pp. 94, 206; ill. opposite p. 94 (color).

Jensen, Kristen, ed. Charles Sheeler: Fashion Photography, and Sculptural Form. (exh. cat. James A. Michener Art Museum) Doylestown, Pennsylvania: James A. Michener Art Museum, 2017. Text p. 8; ill. p. 9 (color).