VVFA Modern | Artists | Charles Green Shaw (American, 1892 - 1974)
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Charles Shaw was well known for his geometric as well as biomorphic abstractions. He developed a unique artistic style, which he labeled “Concretionist,” and was strongly influenced by the constructions of Jean Arp, and his admiration for Cubism. Shaw’s style would evolve from the strict use of geometry toward a softer aesthetic marked by a more expressive handling of paint. UFO is part of a later series of paintings in which he again focused on sharp forms and bright colors.
Shaw was a well-educated man whose circle of friends included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter and Albert E. Gallatin. A graduate of Yale University, Shaw studied architecture at Columbia, served briefly in World War I, and then worked for years as a free-lance writer. As an heir to the Woolworth fortune, his social status and financial security enabled him to travel widely, and exposed him to many of the artistic developments of the European avant-garde. At the age of 36, Shaw enrolled in the Art Students League and studied under Thomas Hart Benton and George Luks. Influenced by his interest in architecture, Shaw created a series of shaped canvases in the 1930’s that evoked the city’s modern skyline. These works were shown by Gallatin in 1935 at The Museum of Living Art, the first museum of modern art in the United States.
Shaw later became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and served on the advisory board of the Museum of Modern Art in 1936 and 1941.
Collections
Whitney Museum of American Art
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Carnegie Museum
Museum of Fine Art, Boston
Addison Gallery of American Art
Phillips Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
Newark Art Museum
Shaw was a well-educated man whose circle of friends included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter and Albert E. Gallatin. A graduate of Yale University, Shaw studied architecture at Columbia, served briefly in World War I, and then worked for years as a free-lance writer. As an heir to the Woolworth fortune, his social status and financial security enabled him to travel widely, and exposed him to many of the artistic developments of the European avant-garde. At the age of 36, Shaw enrolled in the Art Students League and studied under Thomas Hart Benton and George Luks. Influenced by his interest in architecture, Shaw created a series of shaped canvases in the 1930’s that evoked the city’s modern skyline. These works were shown by Gallatin in 1935 at The Museum of Living Art, the first museum of modern art in the United States.
Shaw later became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and served on the advisory board of the Museum of Modern Art in 1936 and 1941.
Collections
Whitney Museum of American Art
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Carnegie Museum
Museum of Fine Art, Boston
Addison Gallery of American Art
Phillips Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
Newark Art Museum
