American Modern: Hopper to O’Keeffe, on view at MOMA August 17, 2013–January 26, 2014, takes a fresh look at the Museum’s holdings of American art made between 1915 and 1950, and considers the cultural preoccupations of a rapidly changing American society in the first half of the 20th century.
American Modern includes paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures by more than 50 artists, bringing together some of the Museum’s most celebrated masterworks, including pieces by Charles Burchfield, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Florine Stettheimer, Alfred Stieglitz, and Andrew Wyeth.
Contextualizing these works across mediums and amid lesser-seen but revelatory compositions, American Modern offers these artists’ views of the United States in a period of radical transformation, expressed in a variety of visual styles, artistic movements, and personal visions. The selection of more than 100 works is organized thematically, depicting such subjects as urban and rural landscapes, scenes of industry, still-life compositions, and portraiture.
Catalogue
From the NY Times: (images, links [with more info] added)
...The show has been organized by Kathy Curry and Esther Adler, assistant curators in the museum’s department of drawings and prints, and to their credit, it is for the most part beautifully installed, with lots of interesting visual cross-references. It is, for example, rewarding to study side by side the fancy-vs.-plain responses to Cubism in
Gerald Murphy’s 1929 “Wasp and Pear”
and Davis’s 1930 “Egg Beater V...”
There are wonderful works by Davis, Edward Hopper and Charles Sheeler, who glides effortlessly among the mediums here with a consistent sense of crystalline form and emerges as the show’s quiet hero. Don’t miss O’Keeffe’s classic
“Farmhouse Window and Door”
outside the exhibition’s entrance and
Davis’s 1931 “Salt Shaker,”
which is also part of the show, although it hangs in a nearby hallway (next to the escalators).
Surprises include a handsome wall of 10 watercolors by the visionary Charles Burchfield and
Joseph Stella’s 1928 “First Light,”
a small painting of a lone poplar behind a plain gray wall that brings to mind Caspar David Friedrich and Odilon Redon...
More Images:
Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967). House by the Railroad. 1925. Oil on canvas. 24 x 29_ (61 x 73.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Given anonymously. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Digital Imaging Studio
Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986). Evening Star, No. III. 1917. Watercolor on paper mounted on board. 8 7/8 x 11 7/8_ (22.7 x 30.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Straus Fund. © 2012 The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Digital Imaging Studio
George Bellows (American, 1882–1925). Dempsey and Firpo. 1923-24. Lithograph composition: 18 1/8 x 22 3/8_ (46 x 56.9 cm), sheet: 22 3/4 x 26_ (57.8 x 66 cm). Publisher: probably the artist, New York Printer: Bolton Brown, New York. Edition: 103. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Digital Imaging Studio
Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). The First Hepaticas. 1917–18. Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper. 21 1/2 x 27 1/2_ (54.6 x 69.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Reproduced with permission of the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation
Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). Rogues’ Gallery. 1916. Watercolor and pencil on paper. 13 7/8 x 19 7/8_ (35.2 x 50.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Reproduced with permission of the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation
Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935). Eggplant and Tomatoes. 1926. Watercolor on paper. 14 1/8 x 20_ (35.8 x 50.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Philip L. Goodwin Collection. Courtesy Demuth Museum, Lancaster, Pa
Arthur Dove (American, 1880–1946). Willows. 1940. Oil on canvas. 25 x 35_ (63.5 x 88.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Duncan Phillips. ©The Estate of Arthur G. Dove, courtesy Terry Dintenfass, Inc.
Walker Evans (American, 1903–1975). Untitled. c. 1928. Gelatin silver print. 1 9/16 x 2 3/8_ (4 x 6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Dr. Iago Galdston. ©2013 Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967). Night Shadows. 1921, published 1924. Etching. 9 7/16 x 11 1/4_ (24 x 28.6 cm). Publisher: The New Republic, New York. Printer: Peter Platt. Edition: approximately 500. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
John Marin (American, 1870–1953). Lower Manhattan (Composing Derived from Top of Woolworth). 1922. Gouache and charcoal with paper cut out attached with thread on paper. 21 5/8 x 26 7/8_ (54.5 x 67.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. © 2013 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Elie Nadelman (American, born Poland, 1882–1946). Woman at the Piano. 1920–24. Wood, stained and painted. 35 1/8 x 23 1/4 x 9_ (89.2 x 59.1 x 22.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Philip L. Goodwin Collection. ©Estate of Elie Nadelman
Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). American Landscape. 1930. Oil on canvas. 24 x 31_ (61 x 78.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.
Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). Bucks County Barn. 1932. Oil on composition board. 23 7/8 x 29 7/8_ (60.6 x 75.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965). White Barn, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 1914–17. Gelatin silver print. 7 5/8 x 9 11/16_ (19.4 x 24.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Anonymous gift, 1941. ©The Lane Collection
Florine Stettheimer (American, 1871–1944). Family Portrait, II. 1933. Oil on canvas in artist’s frame. 46 1/4 x 64 5/8_ (117.4 x 164 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Miss Ettie Stettheimer. ©Estate of Florine Stettheimer