Painting VIII (Mechanical Abstraction)

Gallery 282, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor (d’Harnoncourt Gallery)

Main Building

Painting VIII (Mechanical Abstraction)

1916

Morton Livingston Schamberg (American, 1881–1918)

This painting is one of a series of nine images of individual machines that Schamberg made in Philadelphia in 1916. The model for this work was an automated wire stitcher, a machine used in the printing industry for binding books. Schamberg found his sources for such images in illustrated trade catalogues. The elegant austerity of the composition highlights the formal beauty of machinery and foreshadows the Precisionist aesthetic developed by Schamberg’s lifelong friend Charles Sheeler.

Gallery 282, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor (d’Harnoncourt Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

Painting VIII (Mechanical Abstraction)

Date:

1916

Artist:

Morton Livingston Schamberg (American, 1881–1918)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

30 1/8 × 20 1/4 inches (76.5 × 51.4 cm) Framed: 31 × 21 1/4 × 2 inches (78.7 × 54 × 5.1 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950

Accession Number:

1950-134-181

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

We are always open to learning more about our collections and updating the website. Does this record contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Contact us here.

Please note that this particular artwork might not be on view when you visit. Don’t worry—we have plenty of exhibitions for you to explore.

Gallery 282, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor (d’Harnoncourt Gallery)

Main Building

Museum map