Mantel Composition 1929

George Ault’s ‘Mantel Composition’ was painted in 1927 using oil on canvas. It presents a still life arrangement of vases, picture frames and decorative objects upon a shelf. Ault lived through a period of intense social and cultural transformation in the United States. Artists like Ault and Charles Sheeler sought to capture the spirit of modern America, its urban landscapes, and the precision of its industrial production. What makes Ault distinctive among them is how he inflected this American take on modernism with personal and social commentary. His geometric, sharp-edged style could also be read as a response to the social anxieties of the interwar period. The picture frames in the painting may be a commentary on the institutionalization of art and the framing of artistic expression in a commercial society. To understand Ault better, we can draw on letters, exhibition catalogs, and critical reviews. Only then can we better grasp his place in the history of art and the ongoing dialogue between artists, institutions, and society.