Charles Henry Demuth was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on November 8, 1883. He was the only child of financially secure merchants and lived primarily in a home on King Street in the city. A graduate of Franklin and Marshall Academy, he went on to study at Drexel Institute and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Thereafter, he travelled to Paris to live for two years and became part of the avant garde art scene. Later Demuth painted many of his works in the second floor studio in his Lancaster home.

Demuth was primarily known for his Precisionist works (most were done in oils and tempera, but he preferred using watercolor). Precisionism is when an object or depicted scene is shown in a realistic manner, but emphasis is placed on its geometric form. His early works, however, were illustrations and watercolor still lifes.

One of his most popular paintings was done in 1928, "I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold". His inspiration was a poem by his friend, William Carlos Williams, entitled "The Great Figure". "My Egypt", another painting by Demuth, was inspired by his fascination with grain elevators in the Lancaster County area. Some of Demuth's works can be viewed at the Demuth Museum on King Street in Lancaster, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Demuth passed away on October 23, 1935 at the age of 51 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as a result of complications from diabetes. He is buried in the Lancaster Cemetery.

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