Charles Sheeler

CHARLES SHEELER
(1883-1965)

Bird's Nest
Oil on canvas
24 X 30 inches
Signed and dated (at lower right):
Sheeler 44
Titled, signed and dated
(on the upper stretcher bar):
"Birdsnest" - Charles Sheeler - 1944

Recorded: Carol Troyen and Erica Hirshler, Charles Sheeler: Paintings and Drawings, 1987, p. 34

Exhibited: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1946, Fifth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, no. 189; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1947, Second Annual Exhibition of Painting, p. 25 nn., illus. on p. 38

Ex. coll: The Downtown Gallery, New York; Olga G. Irwin; to Carl Stocker, Coral Gables, Florida; Christie's Auction, May 26, 1988, lot 350; sold to Mongerson-Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; to private collection, New Jersey to present

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Bird's Nest

Bird's Nest was Charles Sheeler's home in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. Sheeler was already recognized as one of our finest artists for over twenty years when he and his wife moved there in 1942. Sheeler's works are rare; he only produced about 500 individual works and he executed fewer pictures during the years encompassing World War II than at any other time during his career. The works he created in the 1940's were increasingly executed on commission or at the suggestion of his dealer, Edith Halpert of The Downtown Gallery. Bird's Nest is an exception, a private picture painted for Sheeler's own pleasure and enjoyment. In its juxtaposition of soft, natural forms and precise architecture, Sheeler produced a work that was a truer reflection of his artistry than other paintings he created at this time.