The "Figure 5 in Gold" Story

Exterior of Demuth's home at 120 E. King St.

It was an ordinary day.  Stopped in the Demuth Museum at 120 East King Street in Lancaster, PA for a visit and to buy my sweetheart a present for Valentine's Day.  Was recently reading Marion Wallace Reninger's book titled "Orange Street" which is a small hard-back book that naturally sports a bright orange cover.  Book has a chapter called "People" in which a noted Lancaster artist, Letitia Herr Malone talked about her impressions of Charles Demuth.  

Charles Demuth at a young age.

Charles was born November 8th, 1883 to wealthy mercantile parents.  Mrs. Malone remembered Charlie, as she called him, as a frail boy and slightly lame from either a bout of TB, polio or a fall in infancy.  He wore a built-up shoe, but still was able to attend dances and social events with his friends.  He attended Lancaster High School and F & M Academy until age 18 when he entered Drexel Institute in Philadelphia.  In 1905 he attended Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and two years later the Darby School.  Since he was fortunate to come from a wealthy family, he didn't have to survive by selling his artwork.  He studied in Paris from 1907 to 1912 and lived comfortably on the allowance from home.  

Watercolor of flowers from his mother's garden.

Then, in 1919 Charles discovered he had diabetes and suffered years from it.  He was one of the first people in the United States to be treated with insulin, but still succumbed to the disease October 23, 1935.  Demuth was a life-long resident of Lancaster where he lived with his mother in the home in which I am standing today.  He was Lancaster's genius watercolorist who eventually turned to oils late in his career when he developed a style known as Precissionism.  

One of his seven panels depicting the factories in Lancaster.

His watercolors were magical and his series of seven panel paintings which he began in 1920 and which depicted Lancaster's factories are my favorites.  Charles Demuth was a discreet gay and took delight in sowing his work with sexual hints.  He maintained a long-term partnership with his companion Robert Evans Locher.  Out of this came his masterpiece "My Egypt" in 1927.   Demuth's most famous work is titled "The Figure 5 in Gold" which he painted  in 1928 and which is based on a poem by his friend William Carlos Williams called "The Great Figure."  

His most famous painting titled "The Figure 5 in Gold"

Eventually Charles was exiled in Lancaster, bedridden in his mother's house, until his death.  Demuth was a happy rarity: an artist who got along with other artists.  Well, my task today was to buy a gift for my wife and I can report that I have accomplished my mission with a silk scarf that features images from one his prints, Daisies, that he painted in 1932. My visit to his home was interesting, but photos are discouraged, except for the garden and exterior shots.  I did manage to get a photograph of his bedroom and studio showing his bed.  As I stood in his studio, I looked out over the city of Lancaster and saw the same scene that he must have seen when he painted "Lancaster" that featured the steeple of First Presberytain Church on South Queen Street. Below me, as I looked out the window, was the same garden that he used for many of his paintings of flowers. As I walked through what was probably the living area of the house in the early 1900s I reached out and placed my hand on the door handle leading to the garden.  Just had to touch something that I suspected he had touched many times during his life.  Maybe some of his talent is still on the door handle and will rub off on me!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - the header across the top of this story is the scarf that I purchased for my wife.