Guide to Precisionism: 10 Notable Precisionist Artists

Precisionism was an early twentieth-century art movement in the US inspired by the industrialization of the American landscape. It depicted its subject matter with a balance of abstraction and accuracy. The art style’s fixation with stripping its subject matter down to its geometric essence was influenced by the European fine art forms of cubism and futurism, although it approached the dynamism of the industrial scene in the US with a more holistic attitude and greater emphasis on precision.

The US artists of the precisionist movement were also referred to as the Immaculates or modern classicists. These sobriquets highlighted the precisionist style’s emphasis on reproducing the form of the new industrial landscape in the US with a sense of simple perfection. The events of the Industrial Revolution through the first totally mechanized global conflict—World War I—left people in a strange new world, and precisionist artists hoped to portray it in all its beauty and moral complexity.

Precisionist painters were preoccupied with the Machine Age they’d found themselves in. They were first influenced by other artists and the events of their time to eventually lay the groundwork for the next phases of art history.

• The influence of Europe: The manifold artistic styles of modernism took root first in early twentieth-century Europe before spreading to the US. The cubist school of renowned Spanish artist Pablo Picasso foregrounded a focus on the geometric fragmentation of its subjects over realism. Meanwhile, the Italian futurist school hoped to stylistically capture the technological future rapidly encroaching on their present lives. While both of these avant-garde modern art styles were more prone to intense, extreme abstraction than precisionist art ever was, their prioritization of capturing the geometric form of their subject matter greatly influenced painters in the US.
• Mentors and patrons: Precisionism received a high degree of support from artistic luminaries and sponsors of the decades immediately following World War I. Alfred Stieglitz (husband of occasional precisionist painter Georgia O’Keeffe) was one of the main photographers and artists to begin introducing European modern art into the US scene. He provided fertile ground for precisionism to spread in the United States. Alfred H. Barr, the first director of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, is credited with giving the style its name. New York art dealer Charles Daniel helped many precisionist artists get their start by housing their paintings in his Daniel Gallery.
• Lasting inspiration: Precisionism was relatively short-lived compared to other art movements—its heyday lasted from the 1920s to the 1930s—but it paved the way for future artists and artistic schools. Edward Hopper (painter of the famous work Nighthawks) amplified its moodiness and took its predilection for depicting the good, the bad, and the ugly of life objectively into a more personal direction. Abstract expressionism took the shape-centered leanings of precisionism and its European counterparts to much more eccentric and conceptual heights. Precisionism’s accurate, occasionally ironic appraisal of US icons was also echoed in the pop art movement of the middle of the twentieth century.

There was a veritable explosion of precisionist artists in the Roaring Twenties and early years of the Great Depression. Here are ten of the most notable:

1. 1. Charles Demuth: Originally a watercolor enthusiast, Charles Demuth’s transition to working with oils correlated with his turn to precisionism. His Chimney and Water Tower perfectly exemplifies one of the movement’s main focal points: towering industrial machinery painted with a deep sense of reverence.
2. 2. Charles Sheeler: Charles Sheeler doubled as a photographer during the early decades of the twentieth century. He took his cameraman’s eye to the easel in an attempt to capture the glory of cityscapes in the US, as in his celebrated Skyscrapers painting.
3. 3. Louis Lozowick: Working often in shades of black and white, Louis Lozowick painted American industrialism in a more haunting manner than some of his peers. Enthralled by many different US urban centers, he committed his renditions of the cities of Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and New York to canvas.
4. 4. Elsie Driggs: Combating the misogyny of the time, Elsie Driggs originally signed her works with just her last name to gain initial recognition. Her paintings depict New Deal-era bridges, buildings, and airplanes.
5. 5. Niles Spencer: Niles Spencer was drawn to the rural and urban aspects of industrialization—his oeuvre featured watermills and city walkways alike. His works can be found in many prominent American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
6. 6. George Ault: George Ault was a master of imbuing his precisionist landscapes with a sense of eeriness and dread. Cloudy skies, dark streets, and snowed-in barns provided fodder for his painter’s brush.
7. 7. Ralston Crawford: Getting his start in the precisionist movement, Ralston Crawford eventually followed the mood of the times in allowing his work to evolve into greater and greater degrees of abstraction. Still, his early work is a perfect representation of the essential elements of precisionism.
8. 8. Preston Dickinson: Preston Dickinson’s work in precisionism is more colorful and vibrant than many of his peers. His enthusiasm for the US’s industrial overhaul is highlighted in his depictions of cityscapes and their myriad features.
9. 9. Morton Schamberg: Initially studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Morton Schamberg was one of the early progenitors of the precisionist style. He left behind many paintings of modern inventions, architecture, and the like prior to his premature death during the flu pandemic of 1918.
10. 10. Joseph Stella: Joseph Stella took many urban subjects as inspiration. His most famous achievement, though, is his homage to New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.

Grab the MasterClass Annual Membership and plumb the depths of your creativity with the help of modern artist Jeff Koons, abstract artist Futura, and stage designer Es Devlin. Our exclusive video lessons will teach you to do things like utilize color and scale, explore the beauty in everyday objects, and so much more.