In the fall of 1953 Charles Sheeler photographed several barns in North Central Massachusetts while visiting his friend, the collector William H. Lane. Sheeler experimented with different compositions by layering multiple photographs over one another, much as other artists use sketches. The resulting painting emphasizes formal relationships—the geometry of the barns—while also attending to the distinctly regional qualities of the architecture and building materials. Lane ultimately acquired the painting from New York’s Downtown Gallery, owned by the charismatic champion of modernist painting Edith Halpert.

Oil on Canvas.

The Lane Collection.

2023.109