NEW YORK CITY — Through May 13, Forum Gallery in New York City is exhibiting new paintings by the painter Robert Cottingham.

In his latest series, the noted American Realist artist and Newtown resident, is paying homage to two defining machines of the 20th Century: the camera and the typewriter. In pencil drawings, intimate gouache on paper studies and major oil paintings, Mr Cottingham portrays Royal, Remington, Underwood and Corona typewriters and the Hawkeye, Bimat and Spartus Full-Vue cameras as icons of the recent past.

Although the still life genre is fairly new to Mr Cottingham, the subjects of his latest paintings continue to celebrate the American experience, just as his well-known series of signs and storefronts and his powerful railroad images have done in the past. The typewriters seen in the current exhibition relate closely to the alphabet letters shown earlier, and cameras have long been used by the artist in his quest for subject matter.

Not only do cameras and typewriters relate to each other as instruments of communication, but they have physical similarities as well.

“Physically, the earliest models of both are appealing examples of form following function in their use of minimal black surfaces and metallic trim,” says Mr Cottingham. “And mechanically, they’re ingenious, compact and elegant. They are a pleasure to use. They fold out, the ring, they click and clack… all without batteries.”

Mr Cottingham went on to explain why such objects are important to him.

“They were inventions designed and prices for mass consumption,” he said. “They have helped give us an image of ourselves, and are, therefore, deserving subject matter. They are machines of witness.”

The creator of artwork recognized around the world, Mr Cottingham is best known for his crisply depicted representations of the urban American landscape. He came to prominence in the photorealist era of the late 1960s and 70s, having been inspired by Pop artists’ use of commercial imagery.

Mr Cottingham’s most recent exhibition at Forum Gallery was “An American Alphabet,” which was presented in 1996. In October 1998, the National Museum of American Art, in Washington, D.C., celebrated its acquisition of a set of Mr Cottingham’s prints with an exhibition. “Eyeing America: Robert Cottingham Prints” presented to the public three decades’ worth of work by the painter.

Forum Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5:30 pm. It is at 745 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, and can be reached by calling 212/355-4545.

Mr Cottingham and his wife Jane live in Newtown on the historic Blackman Farm property.