Charles H. Walther
Reversible Composition
1936-1937
Scroll
Charles H. Walther
Reversible Composition
1936-1937
Physical Qualities
Oil on composition board, Framed: 35 1/16 × 30 in. (89.1 × 76.2 cm.)
Unframed: 30 1/16 × 25 in. (76.4 × 63.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of the Artist
Object Number
1938.717
A leading exponent of non-objective art, Charles Walther imbued Reversible Composition with the dynamic motion and geometry associated with the Futurist and Constructivist movements. After studying in Europe, he returned to Baltimore and joined the faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he taught for more than two decades. In 1920, protesting against the prevailing academic approach to art, Walther became a founder of the Society of Baltimore Independent Artists, which held non-juried shows. Reversible Composition was conceived so that any of its four sides could serve as the top of the painting — an approach that is far from academic. The frame is original to the painting.
Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1938; Charles H. Walther (1879-1938), Baltimore, MD
Link Benesch Reinstall (Spring 2008)
AMW Reinstallation 2014
American Wing Rotations 2020
American Wing Rotations 2021
Southern Modern:1913-1955
American Wing Rotations 2022
American Wing Rotations 2023
One-Man Show: Charles H. Walther
Benskin, Elizabeth, and Suzy Wolffe. "The Art of Technology," Teacher's Guide to the American Collection. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014, pages 74 and 80.
https://fristartmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/Southern-Modern-Educator-Guide-Images.pdf, first page of a museum guide for the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, TN.
"C.H. Walther, Noted Artist, Dies of Injury," The Baltimore Sun, May 8, 1938, p. 20
"Charles H. Walther: Maryland Modernist and the Snallygaster School," (Hagerstown, MD: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 1999) Exhibition pamphlet. (Artist's biography and chronology)
"Charles H. Walther: Maryland Modernist and the Snallygaster School," (Hagerstown, MD: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 1999) Exhibition pamphlet. (Artist's biography and chronology)
Inscribed: Might be under current backing board: (obtained from object file) Typed label, upper top verso on frame: "EXPLANATION / This painting is an attempt at / automatic intuitive composition. / The reversal of this composition / upon its four sides, results in / four automatic changes in the / movements of its forms, moods and / its color dominants. Each position / is complete in itself." (artist's description)
Explore the Collection Further
