Artwork
Charles Sheeler and Nina Allender
Charles Sheeler and Nina Allender is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Morton Livingston Schamberg. It dates from 1906 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Two figures sit side by side on a bench, the man in a dark suit, the woman in a high-collared blouse with a serious look. One of few surviving portraits by Morton Schamberg, who died young in the 1918 flu pandemic, it pairs Charles Sheeler, later a noted modernist photographer and painter, with Nina Allender, a cartoonist and suffragist. The brushwork is loose but careful.
Technique & Style
, having entered the museum in 2014 after a series of gifts and transfers from the Corcoran Gallery of Art permanently.
The work is classified as a painting and was created in 1906. It is an oil painting executed on a wooden panel, measuring 12.7 cm in height by 8.89 cm in width. The composition depicts Charles Sheeler and Nina E. Allender and belongs to the National Gallery of Art’s collection in Washington, D.C., having entered the museum in 2014 after a series of gifts and transfers from the Corcoran Gallery of Art permanently.
History & Provenance
Charles Sheeler and Nina Allender is an oil on wood panel painted in 1906 by Morton Livingston Schamberg. The work measures 12.7 × 8.89 cm and portrays the artists Charles Sheeler and Nina E. Allender. Its early ownership is uncertain, though it may have passed through Downtown Gallery in New York before entering the collection of Joan B. Detweiler, who gifted it to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington in 1962.
The painting remained in the Corcoran’s holdings until 2014, when it was acquired by the National Gallery of Art, where it is presently displayed.
Overview
Morton Schamberg's oil on wood painting, "Charles Sheeler and Nina Allender," depicts two notable figures of early 20th-century American modernism. Created by an artist whose career was cut short, this work captures the future modernist painter and photographer Charles Sheeler alongside the cartoonist and suffragist Nina Allender. It offers a glimpse into their early lives through a quiet, direct portrayal.
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents Charles Sheeler and Nina Allender seated together on a bench, their gazes directed outward. Sheeler, positioned on the left, wears a dark suit, while Allender, on the right, is depicted in a high-collared blouse with a composed expression. This double portrait brings together a burgeoning modernist artist and a prominent advocate for women's suffrage, reflecting a period of significant social and artistic change.
Context
The individuals depicted here each forged significant paths in the early 20th century. Charles Sheeler would later become a pivotal figure in American modernism, recognized for his precisionist paintings and photography. Nina Allender, a dedicated suffragist, contributed to the movement through her influential political cartoons. This portrait captures them before their full public recognition, offering a unique historical record.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Morton Livingston Schamberg (October 15, 1881 – October 13, 1918) was an American modernist painter and photographer.
- A Lady in the Studio
In the painter's studio
Louis Kronberg in His Studio in Copley Hall
Costume Scene
Concert in the living-room, sketch
In the painter's studio
In the workshop
A Lady in the Studio
The Studio of Ferdinand De Braekeleer I, Father of the Painter
A Colourist
The Painter Alfred William Finch
Nanna og hendes moder