Overview: 50 paintings, photographs, works on paper, and a film by American modernist Charles Sheeler were presented in this exhibition, which explored the artist's practice of revisiting subjects using different media over the span of decades. The installation opened with examples of Sheeler's photographs of the interior of a Doylestown, Pennsylvania, farmhouse, which later served as the basis for Conté crayon drawings and paintings. A 10-minute DVD transfer of a vintage print of the 1920 film, Manhatta, which Sheeler made in collaboration with Paul Strand, was shown with Sheeler's related paintings and drawings. His photographs of the Ford Motor Company River Rouge plant were shown in the second room of the exhibition with later paintings and drawings of the same subject. Montages on the theme of the New England mill also were on view.

A public symposium was held on June 11 in the East Building Auditorium, followed by a screening of the 1920 film Manhatta, with an original score by Donald Sosin performed by the composer. Several other short city films also were presented. The film performance was provided by the film preservation project Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1893–1941, sponsored by Anthology Film Archives, New York, and Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, and underwritten by Cineric, Inc.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art. Charles Brock, assistant curator of American and British paintings, was exhibition curator.

Sponsor: The project was made possible by Altria Group, Inc.

Other Venues:

• The Art Institute of Chicago, 10/07/2006–01/07/2007
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young, 02/10/2007–05/06/2007