On "That" Street

Charles Demuth's "On 'That' Street" (1932) is a watercolor over graphite on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory board. The title is intriguingly suggestive—"On 'That' Street" might refer to a specific street, perhaps with personal significance, or it might be a coded reference. Demuth was a gay man living in a time when homosexuality was widely condemned, and his work sometimes contains veiled references to his identity and experiences. The watercolor shows a street scene, perhaps in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with buildings rendered in his characteristic precisionist style. The cream laid paper and ivory board mount provide a warm support. The graphite underdrawing defines the architectural forms clearly, while the watercolor adds atmospheric washes of color. This late work, created only three years before Demuth's death, shows his style continuing to evolve, the precisionist clarity now tempered by a slightly softer, more atmospheric handling. The street is empty of people, creating a mood of quiet solitude.

Demuth's late watercolors represent the culmination of his career, synthesizing Precisionist clarity with a more personal, introspective vision.

This street scene captures Demuth's late style at its most refined, the empty street and ambiguous title suggesting layers of personal meaning beneath the precisionist surface.