Still Life

Public Domain

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image from catalogue for exhibition: American Modern: Works from the Collection of Alice C. Sim ...

Artist Preston Dickinson (American, 1891–1930)American, 1891–1930

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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Department

Prints and Drawings

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

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.
Published References Greene, Alison de Lima, with Lyle Williams, Jerika C. Jordan, and Althea Ruoppo. "American Modern: Works from the Collection of Alice C. Simkins" (Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2015), p. 26-27, ill. p. 27 and 47. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

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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