Charles was an American Precisionist painter, born in Lancaster Pennsylvania on November 9th 1883. Through his art, Mr. Demuth candidly depicted the gay world that he witnessed first-hand in watercolors he painted for his closest friends: the sexual encounters going on in public baths, sailors fondling one another while peeing, and man/man sex at Coney Island. Historically, for gay men his works have great significance, for they visualize and help document what was going on back then (no big surprise here...men were doing the same things that men have always been doing). But what may appear to be pretty darn tame by today's standards was considered very daring in the teens and twenties of the last century. These works were not shared with the public back then when he painted them.
In his youth, he studied at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He later studied at Académie Colarossi and Académie Julian in Paris, where he became a part of the exciting and electric avant garde art scene. Bohemianism was alive and Charles was living in the thick of it. Though still relatively underground, a network of venues (salons, bars, cafés, and bathhouses) catering to gay men emerged throughout Paris, particularly around the areas of Montmartre and Les Halles. Spirited conversations were complimented with sexual energy.
While he was in Paris he met Marsden Hartley by walking up to a table of American artists and asking if he could join them. He had a great sense of humor, rich in double entendres and they asked him to be a regular member of their art social group. Through Hartley he met Alfred Stieglitz and became a member of the Stieglitz group. In 1926, Charles had a one-man show at a New York gallery run by his friend Stieglitz.
Happily, his talent continues to shine...today he is not best-known for being a "gay man who painted gay men in sexual situations", but for his gifted work as a watercolorist of all life; his still-lifes, figure paintings and "pop" art are highly collectible. His "Figure 5 in Gold" (1928 abstract of a fire engine #5) is his most-famous work (right). It is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It helps to consider that 1928 was not only the year Demuth painted this inconic artwork, it was also the year that Andy Warhol was born...that's how far ahead of his time Charles was.
"3 Sailors" 1917 by Charles Demuth
"Two Sailors Urinating" 1930 by Charles Demuth
"Turkish Bath with Self Portrait" 1918 by Charles Demuth
"Four Male Figures" 1930 by Charles Demuth
"Aucassin and Nicolette" 1921 by Charles Demuth
An invalid in later life, Demuth was bedridden in his parents' house. He died in Lancaster Pennsylvania, October 23, 1935.
