I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928), Charles Demuth

While I was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since I am African, and I am bias by habit I was looking for a specific paint by Pablo Picasso who was inspired by African sculpture. In his early experiment of cubism Picasso incorporated African’s art in his work. Therefore, my mission was to find the paint “Bust of a Man”. However, another paint caught my attention “I saw the Figure 5 in Gold” a 1928 painting from Charles Demuth.

Charles Demuth was an American painter known as an adept of the precisionism. The precisionism was a form of painting on canvas used by many American artists which was influenced by cubism. In fact, Charles Demuth in his early years travelled regularly to Europe to study. While in Paris he was influenced by cubist artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso.

“I saw the Figure 5 in Gold” was Demuth’s tribute to his longtime friend the poet William Carlos Williams. Demuth created a visual representation of William Carlos Williams’s poem “The great Figure”. To be able to understand the paint viewers need to be familiar with the poem. Authors of the modernism used the abstract as a style in their works, meaning it was difficult to identify the plot of their texts. Nonetheless, William Carlos’s poem was a straightforward and appeared more like a description of a scene he witnessed. According to Dr Laura Kuykendall’s article on Precisionism “Williams’ poem recalls a night when he was walking down Ninth Avenue in New York City on his way to painter Marsden Hartley’s studio. He heard noises of a fire truck….”.

The MET make sure that the visitor has the opportunity to read the poem as well and see how the two pieces of art are related to each other. For me this is a masterpiece and surely one of the best piece of the MET. After looking at the poem I started paying attention to the details of the paint. I notice that the paint is made entirely with geometrical figure, the curved lines next to the bell remind the viewers that they are ringing. The grey in the background gives a precision of time t it was. Demuth even incorporated the letters CARLO referring to Williams Carlos. The repetitive 5 in the paint represents the firetruck approaching the position of the author in the poem.

I really liked this paint for many reasons mainly for the story behind it. This is a piece of history that is illustrating a genuine friendship between two genius. I am confused on one particular point. What was the message that Charles Demuth wanted to convey by giving a visual to Williams Carlos’ poem?

Here is the poem from William Carlos Williams.

I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold was inspired by the poem, “The Great Figure,” written by Demuth’s friend, William Carlos Williams:

Among the rain

and lights

I saw the figure 5

in gold

on a red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to gong clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark city.