In the first decades of the twentieth century, Charles Demuth was among the most talented and innovative watercolorists in America. Provincetown Rooftops is part of a series of works depicting rooftops and chimneys that the artist completed in 1918 while spending the summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This group of carefully composed and controlled watercolors showcases Demuth's technical virtuosity, from the blotted washes of color to the clean lines that form a gridded pattern, defining the roofs and facades of the houses. These works reflect Demuth's incorporation of Cubist techniques into his landscapes, which are often seen as directly influencing his later Precisionist style.