Charles Demuth, 'I Saw The Figure 5 In Gold', 1928

Charles Demuth | I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold | The Met

My eye is at first drawn to the colour. That yellow instantly reminds me of the New York taxi cabs, and in my mind I link it to Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie which also tries to capture the city of New York through art. Just as Mondrian used colour to emphasise the pulsating liveliness of the city, Demuth is using it to emphasise speed. The receding five represents the speed of the fire engine that this piece is based on, zooming past the viewer and down the avenue of the city. The red signifies danger, fire, heat, noise. But it also signifies that liveliness of the city and New York as a hub of culture and a hive of activity. It links to the flashing lights of Times Square and Broadway, and it suggests the discordant sounds of sirens wailing down the streets - Demuth is making a piece of art come alive and highlighting art's power to represent not only a place, but a way of life.

Demuth was creating art in the Precisionist style and this is highlighted in I Saw The Figure 5 In Gold through the clean cut, geometric patterns and shafts of light and shade that are used instead of blending. These shafts again emphasise movement, and it if the viewer were to look at a different angle, the lighter colours would be in completely different places, as would the darker colours. The background shows fractured panes of apartment blocks, their angles suggesting height in an enclosed space. There are lines like telegraph wires and fragments of text like adverts and shop signs briefly glimpsed from the speeding vehicle.

The circles of light above the large, yellow number five at first just look like streetlamps, but then become headlights, then eyes staring back at the viewer, who ironically happens to be observing themselves. There are larger 'eyes' that also make up the corners of the piece, which links back to the idea of the fire engine moving away from the viewer and the overall sense of movement of the artwork. There is a suggestion that the streets of the city would be dark if it were not for the headlights of this vehicle, therefore showing how they act as a guide for the fire engine and also a guide for the viewer in understanding this piece. This is the Roaring Twenties but there is a suggestion that not everything is glamorous and positive - the fire engine itself is a warning, the red reinforces this and the word 'bill' shouts out from the top of the canvas. There will be a price to pay.

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