Chartres Cathedral
Charles Sheeler
American, 1883–1965
1929
A gelatin silver print of Chartres Cathedral in which Charles Sheeler transforms the church’s buttresses into a study of geometric rhythm, light, and textured stone.
You’re immediately struck by the repeating diagonals of the buttresses and the carved stone’s granular surface, which resolve into a sequence of abstract planes of light and shadow.
By treating Gothic architecture as an abstract composition, Sheeler helped push photography toward modernist Precisionism and changed how artists and viewers perceive built form.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
9 9/16 × 7 9/16" (24.3 × 19.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Samuel M. Kootz
Accession
401.1942
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
