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Discussion: 
What is an American?  

Charles Demuth
My Egypt - 1927

Oil on board, 35 3/4 x 30 in. (90.8 x 76.2 cm.)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Elsie Driggs
Pittsburgh - 1927

Oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 40 in. (87 x 101.6 cm.)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Charles Demuth and Elsie Driggs are two artists who are known for their works that show the changing American landscape. They both looked at the growth of American industry. Both Demuth and Driggs were considered precisionist artists that made work using defined straight lines. If you look closely at each work, Demuth's painting, My Egypt and Drigg's work, Pittsburgh, you can see how they both express different views on the subject of industry.

Demuth is paying homage to grain elevators for how they look in the landscape. This work of art is interesting to many urban teens because many have never seen or heard of grain elevators. While Demuth is celebrating the growth of industry, Driggs is focusing on the pollution produced by factories and its effect on the environment.

What are the negative and positive views that each artist expresses?

Anonymous Response:
Demuth expresses people's blindness about the dangers of factories and Driggs looks at factories, but not how they help the growth of life.

Emily's Response:
Both artists have different views on factories. Demuth thinks that factories are good and Driggs believes that factories add pollution and are bad.

Jasmin's Response:
I agree with Emily, Demuth portrays factories as a great aspect of the industrial movement, while Driggs thinks it is not a great aspect at all.

© 2003 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York