Preston Dickinson
Still Life

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Still Life
Datec. 1920s
MediumPastel and graphite on laid paper
DimensionsSheet: 12 5/8 x 9 in. (32 x 22.8 cm)
Frame: 21 1/2 × 17 3/8 × 1 1/2 in. (54.6 × 44.2 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Alice C. Simkins Collection, gift of Alice C. Simkins and museum purchase funded by Kelly and Harper Trammell and the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment
Object number2016.309
Not on view

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DescriptionPreston Dickinson is chiefly known for his clean, hard-edged depictions of America’s industrial landscape.  However, in the mid-1920s, he produced a series still-life compositions that demonstrate his love of Cubism and his mastery of the pastel medium.
 
"Still Life" is closely related to similar studies and paintings created around 1924. Several motifs recur throughout this series, such as the distinctive geometric pattern decorating the pitcher and bowl and the long-stemmed pear that introduces a vividly organic element into the composition. Dickinson packed these objects closely together, uniting one form to the next through sinuous line, reflected light, and rounded shapes which echo across the page.

ProvenanceThe artist; [Charles Daniels Gallery, New York]; […]; [Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York]; The Alice C. Simkins Collection, San Antonio, November 6, 1973; to MFAH, 2016.
Exhibition History"Collector’s Gallery VII," Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX, 1973.

“American Modern: Works from the Collection of Alice C. Simkins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 15–July 19, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Recto: Signed in graphite, bottom right corner: P. Dickinson [cursive]
Verso: [inaccessible]
Recto: Signed in graphite, bottom right corner: P. Dickinson [cursive]
Verso: [inaccessible]
Recto: Watermark, top right corner: [curved shape]
Verso: [inaccessible]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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