Broken Myths: Charles Sheeler's Industrial Landscapes (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9783110769456)

Precisionism is generally regarded as an artistic style that does not
indulge in social or political themes, being committed instead to
aestheticism. Addressing the role of human beings under increased
automation and mechanization, Andrea Diederichs includes the social
dimension of the machine age in her investigations. In this way, she
undertakes a fundamental revision of the prevailing, one-dimensional
reading of Precisionism. It becomes clear that Charles Sheeler's, George
Ault's or Niles Spencer's industrial subjects are characterized by
ambivalence and ideology-critical tendencies relating to the new
conditions of labor under the dictates of the machine, and document the
resultant physical and psychological consequences.

• Re-evaluation of the work
  of Charles Sheeler and his contemporaries
• First investigation into
  the industrial depictions of Precisionism in an industrial- psychological
  context