Dancing Sailors

About the Artwork

This drawing was inspired by Charles Demuth's participation in the nightlife of New York's Greenwich Village during the early 20th century. Around this time, the artist made numerous watercolors of nightclubs, performers, and bathhouses. Demuth created two almost identical compositions (the other is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), which both show groups of three couples, with two sailors dancing together while others dance with women. Demuth kept these and other homoerotic watercolors private throughout his career, and almost never showed them publicly. The sheet's planes of textured watercolor blur figure and background, presenting a subtle but pointedly erotic scene.

Inscriptions

signed, center left, in graphite: C. Demuth-1917-; verso of secondary support, upper right, in graphite: 121444.3

Provenance

1917-by 1929: Charles Demuth, sold to Albert Rothbart, Ridgefield, CT by 1929-probably 1965: Albert Rothbart [1874-1965], Ridgefield, CT 1970: (Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, October 14, 1970, no. 29) 1980: (Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1980-: The Cleveland Museum of Art

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). The Sailor 1930-45: The Image of an American Demigod. The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA (January 20-March 13, 1983). Charles Demuth. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 15-January 17, 1987); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (February 25-April 24, 1988); Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (May 8-July 10, 1988); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (August 7-October 2, 1988). Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001). Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC (organizer) (September 30, 2010-February 13, 2011); The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (November 18, 2011-February 18, 2012).

Quick Overview

Artist: Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935)
Date: 1917
Medium: watercolor over graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 20.4 x 25.7 cm (8 1/16 x 10 1/8 in.); Secondary Support: 21.4 x 26.3 cm (8 7/16 x 10 3/8 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession no.: 1980.9

More by Charles Demuth in museum collections

Amaryllis
Charles Demuth
c. 1923 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00000326

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.