Chimney and Water Tower

Charles Demuth’s desire to create a new, modern, and quintessentially American art led him to explore the industrial sites of his hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for subject matter. In a series of paintings known as “industrials,” he transformed a seemingly mundane, unartful subject—the American factory—into an eloquent artistic statement. By paring down the smokestacks, water towers, and grain elevators to their elemental, streamlined shapes, he imbued them with a monumentality, elegance, and grandeur.