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Charles Sheeler American, 1883-1965. Purchased, Drayton Hillyer Fund, 1940. |
Charles Sheeler was born in Philadelphia in 1883. There he studied at the School of Industrial Art, then at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under American Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase. While in his twenties, he traveled to Italy and France, where he studied Old Master paintings and, in particular, developed an appreciation for the art of Cezanne. On his return from Europe, he worked to establish himself as a painter, and took up photography first to earn money, then as another artistic medium. Throughout much of his career, Sheeler worked both as a painter and as a creative photographer. Sheeler was a Precisionist artist; other American artists who worked in the Precisionist style were Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Demuth. Though the group's subject matter and style often varied greatly, all were known for work characterized by crisp edges, clearly defined forms, static compositions, and emphasis on abstract shapes.
Rolling Power depicts a section of the running gear of a freight locomotive. At the time the painting was completed in 1939, the train was on the cutting edge of modern American industrial technology. The train depicted is a Hudson-power locomotive, designed to haul entire New York Central passenger trains at speeds above 100 mph. Rolling Power was one of a series of six paintings commissioned by the business magazine Fortune on "power in America". Sheeler chose to illustrate this theme by depicting artifacts of America's industrial culture. In addition to Rolling Power, the series included Primitive Power, which depicts an old water wheel in Alabama, reflecting America's industrial heritage; Yankee Clipper, a close-up of the propellers of an airplane; Suspended Power, depicting a turbine suspended over the well in which it was to be installed; Steam Turbine, like Rolling Power, a close-up view of a modern machine; and Conversation, a play of wires, girder towers, and insulators set against a view of Boulder Dam. The entire series was illustrated in Fortune, and inexpensive reproductions were sold as a set by the magazine's publishers.
The museum owns a photograph called Drive Wheels, or Wheels, made by Sheeler as a preparatory study for the final painting. He said he used the photograph since he "...could not camp beside [the locomotive] for the three months required to paint it." The photograph, though similar to the final painting, was used as an aid, not a template. In comparing the two, it is clear that in the painting, the working parts are static and pristine; signs of wear and grease do not appear in the final work.
Since its completion, Rolling Power has been singled out as one of Sheeler's most compelling works. It is basically descriptive, but is ultimately controlled by Sheeler's geometric simplification of parts; as Sheeler said of his work, he was ultimately most interested in "the intrinsic realities of form." The geometric simplification of elements, the close, cropped view, and the almost monochromatic palette make the painting more than a study of a locomotive; it is also a study in abstract relationships. Though the image is clear, Sheeler does not stress illusionism. He is not interested in creating a deep space, but rather creates a deliberately shallow space, especially in his treatment of the recessed areas of the train, which he reduces to deeply-toned geometric parts. Rather than using the play of shadow on the locomotive to stress depth, he uses shadows to create more geometric shapes. Though creating basically a static image, he also creates a lively visual pattern, especially by using repeated forms in opposition to each other, as in the circular wheels played against the horizontal piston rods. Stylistic sources for Sheeler's style have been traced to his interests in Cezanne, in Cubism, and in Marcel Duchamp's Dadaist machine imagery. Sheeler's love for American Shaker artifacts is well known, and their simplicity of line and form are also considered inspirations for his work.
In his depiction of the locomotive, Sheeler creates a sympathetic symbol of the American world of industry. He takes a pedestrian subject and transforms it into abstract beauty. Sheeler likened the grandeur of American industrial achievement to that reached in Gothic cathedrals; to Sheeler, the creation of Chartres was akin to the creation of a modern locomotive. Nineteenth century American artists,like Albert Bierstadt, created pictures of the American landscape that were idealized, emphasizing the landscape's heroic and majestic features. For many 20th century American artists, the new American landscape was the urban landscape, the world of industry and technology. Sheeler, like Bierstadt, idealizes his subject (e.g. he doesn't depict the engine's grease), he emphasizes the engine's heroic features. Yet there prevails in his work a mood of ambivalence. Humans are absent in Rolling Power and in his other depictions of the urban industrial landscape. Though Sheeler once said that he did not make social commentary on American industry, he did note that what he deplored in American industry was "the absence of spiritual contact." These conflicting attitudes of admiration and concern seem to be reflected in his depictions of industry as beautiful but ultimately cold, removed from human contact.