Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). Incantation, 1946. Oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (61.3 x 51.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 49.67 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.67_PS20.jpg)
Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). Incantation, 1946. Oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (61.3 x 51.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 49.67 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.67_framed_PS20.jpg)
Incantation
Charles Sheeler
American Art
On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Radical Care
Charles Sheeler saw the modern equivalent of the imposing religious architecture of the past in the expansive, streamlined masses of factory buildings and refineries. Incantation, whose very title sounds like a spiritual evocation, is a fragmentary view of a continuous-flow oil production plant. Here Sheeler reduced the architectural forms to a more two-dimensional design in which shadows play as weighty a role as the metal tanks and pipes. The lack of a human presence suggests the degree to which these vast plants had come to be viewed as nearly autonomous forces.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
1946
DIMENSIONS
24 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (61.3 x 51.1 cm)
frame: 32 3/4 x 38 3/4 x 3 in. (83.2 x 98.4 x 7.6 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed and dated lower right: "Sheeler -- 1946"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
49.67
CREDIT LINE
Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund
PROVENANCE
1947, probably acquired from the artist by The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; March 14, 1949, purchased from The Downtown Gallery by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Radical Care
CAPTION
Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). Incantation, 1946. Oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (61.3 x 51.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 49.67 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.67_PS20.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 49.67_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Orphaned work
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