McNay Art Museum
January 21 - May 8, 2022
San Antonio, TX (January 17, 2022) – Opening Friday, January 21, at the McNay Art Museum, Georgia O’Keeffe and American Modernism presents a wide-ranging view of the American Modernist movement through 65 diverse artworks from the McNay’s permanent collection, the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts, and rare loans from across the country.
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Georgia O’Keeffe, From the Plains I, 1953. Oil on canvas. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Tom Slick, 1973.22. © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
“At this time of great transformation in our country’s history, social norms and boundaries were challenged, and conventions on class, gender, religion, and race were increasingly blurred and redefined,” said Liz Paris, McNay Collections Manager and co-curator of the exhibition. “American artists were inspired by the diversity of immigrant cultures, and in many cases, their own experiences as first-generation American citizens.”
Georgia O’Keeffe, Summer Days, 1936. Oil on canvas. Collection of Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Calvin Klein 94.171. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Known as the “mother of American Modernism,” Georgia O’Keeffe emerged as a prominent artist in the movement through paintings and watercolors that applied contrasting styles of abstraction and realism to scenes of everyday life. Like her contemporaries Arthur Dove, Betty Tseng-Ecke, and Helen Torr, O’Keeffe blurred the natural and human-made, rendering landscapes, flowers, animal skulls, and rocks with the same precision as her images of houses, barns, and skyscrapers—at times reducing subject matter to fundamental shapes or focusing on individual elements with a wash of vibrant color.
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Leaf Motif, No. 2 1924
Oil on canvas
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.45
Yasuo Kuniyoshi, American, 1893 – 1953. Waitresses from the Sparhawk 1924-1925. Oil on canvas.
Collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Mari and James A. Michener. 1991.252
Georgia O’Keeffe and American Modernism combines key loans from the Blanton Museum of Art; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the San Antonio Museum of Art; the San Diego Museum of Art; Alice Simkins; The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund; and the Whitney Museum of American Art with works from the McNay collection. O’Keeffe is the thread through the exhibition that evokes the spirit of American Modernism in its diverse subject matter and unique style.
“American Modernists found unity in the disarray of this transformational time in history,” said Lyle W. Williams, McNay Curator of Prints and Drawings, Curator of Modern Art. “The diversity of the work they produced reflected this chaotic, rapidly evolving period.”
Complete list of works exhibited:
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Pink and Yellow Hollyhocks 1952
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Helen Miller Jones
1989.37
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Summer Days 1936
Oil on canvas
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Calvin Klein
Ida O’Keeffe
American, 1889-1961
Star Gazing in Texas 1938
Oil of canvas
Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund and Janet Kendall Forsythe Fund in honor of Janet Kendall Forsythe on behalf of the Earl A. Forsythe family
Constance Forsyth
American, 1903-1987
Bandera Sky (Clouds) 1959
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Alice C. Simkins
2018.16
Constance Forsyth
American, 1903-1987
Gulf Clouds ca. 1957
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Alice C. Simkins in honor of Robert L. B. Tobin
1998.7
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Evening Star No. V 1917
Watercolor on paper
Bequest of Helen Miller Jones
1989.36
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Red, Blue, and Green ca. 1916
Watercolor on paper
Collection of The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Georgia O’Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Untitled (Red, Blue, Yellow) 1916
Watercolor on paper
Collection of Alice C. Simkins
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
It Was Blue and Green 1960
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;
Lawrence H. Bloedel Bequest
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
The Mountain, New Mexico 1931
Oil on canvas
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase
Betty Tseng Ecke
American, born China, 1925-2017
A Corner on Earth 1959
Collage and watercolor on paper, mounted on panel
Gift of the Estate of Tom Slick
1973.24
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
From the Plains I 1953
Oil on canvas
Gift of the Estate of Tom Slick
1973.22
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Leaf Motif, No. 2 1924
Oil on canvas
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.45
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Purple Hills 1935
Oil on canvas
Collection of The San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge
Alexander Calder
American, 1898-1976
Standing Mobile ca. 1940
Steel wire and painted aluminum
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.60
Frost 3
Charles Sheeler
American, 1883-1965
Barn Decorations 1959
Oil on canvas
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.52
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Barn with Snow 1934
Oil on canvas
Collection of The San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge
William Zorach
American, born Russia (now Lithuania), 1887-1966
Milking Time (Echo Farm, New Hampshire) 1917
Oil on canvas
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin
1999.107
Ralston Crawford
American, born Canada, 1906-1978
Grey Street 1940
Screenprint
Gift of the Friends of the McNay
1989.29
Elsie Driggs
American, 1898–1992
Aeroplane 1928
Oil on canvas
Collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Museum purchase funded by the Brown Foundation Accessions Endowment Fund
Helen Torr, American
American, 1886–1967
Corrugated Building 1929
Oil on panel
Collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Museum purchase funded by The Brown Foundation, Inc., and Isabel B. Wilson in memory of Peter C. Marzio
Milton Avery
American, 1885-1965
Sea Birds and Sand Spit 1959
Watercolor on paper
Gift of the Arthur T. Stieren Marital Trust, Jane Stieren Lacy, trustee, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the McNay Art Museum
2014.14
Arthur Dove
American, 1880-1946
The Brothers 1942
Tempera and wax emulsion on canvas
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin through the Friends of the McNay
1962.3
Arthur Dove
American, 1880-1946
Study for The Brothers 1941
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin through the Friends of the McNay
1962.4.4
Arthur Dove
American, 1880-1946
Study for The Brothers 1942
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin through the Friends of the McNay
1962.4.7
Helen Torr
American, 1886-1967
Ice 1927
Oil on board
Gift of C. Thomas Wright
2016.115
Helen Torr
American, 1886-1967
White Feather 1930
Gouache on paper
Gift of Alice C. Simkins
2015.168
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Open Clam Shell 1926
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott
Art Fund, Inc., bequest of Mrs. Eugene McDermott
Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Closed Clam Shell 1926
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott
Art Fund, Inc., bequest of Mrs. Eugene McDermott
Marsden Hartley
American, 1877-1943
Black Duck No. 1 1941
Oil on masonite
Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Robert H. Tannahill
Isamu Noguchi
American, 1904-1988
The Mirror 1958
Painted aluminum
Gift of the Estate of Tom Slick
1973.35
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
American, 1893 - 1953
Waitresses from the Sparhawk 1924-1925
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Mari and James A. Michener
Norman Lewis
American, 1909-1979
Man Smoking 1941
Oil on canvas
The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts
John Sloan
American, 1871-1951
Self Portrait 1928
Oil on panel
Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay
1950.141
Jane Peterson
American, 1876-1965
The Green Dress ca. 1920s
Oil on canvas
Museum purchase with funds gifted anonymously in memory of
Madeline O'Connor
2021.2
Frank Gonzalez
American, born 1923
Mexican Girl 1954
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Madeline C. Todd
1965.13
Charles Louis Sallée, Jr.
American, 1911-2006
Girl with Pink Geranium 1936
Oil on canvas
The Harmon and Harriett Kelley Foundation for the Arts
Karl Zerbe
American, born Germany, 1903-1972
Penny-Gaff 1946
Encaustic on canvas
Gift of Mary and Sylvan Lang
1958.3
Joseph Delaney
American, 1904-1991
Clara 1937
Oil on canvas
The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts
Ben Shahn
American, born Russia (now Lithuania), 1898-1969
Sing Sorrow 1946
Tempera on panel
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.49
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
American, born Japan, 1893-1953
Pie in the Sky 1945
Ink and watercolor on paper
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.40
Elizabeth Catlett
American, 1915-2012
Cabeza Cantando (Singing Head) 1968
Bronze
Museum purchase with the Victor and Peggy Barton Creighton Charitable Trust
2014.67
William Zorach
American, born Russia (now Lithuania), 1887-1966
Head 1952
Granite
Mary and Sylvan Lang Collection
1975.77
Marsden Hartley
American, 1877-1943
Portrait Arrangement 1914
Oil on canvas
Museum purchase
1959.2
Paul Cadmus
American, 1904-1999
What I Believe 1947-1948
Tempera on panel
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin
1999.86
Martha Mood
American, 1908-1972
The Sunbather
Appliqué
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Droste
1982.52
Marion Greenwood
American, 1909-1970
Portrait of Leopoldo Méndez 1936
Charcoal on paper
Gift of Ann Tobin in honor of Alice C. Simkins' birthday
2000.7
David Alfaro Siqueiros
Mexican, 1896-1974
Portrait of William Spratling, Taxco 1939
Lithograph
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Burkhalter
1962.10
Marion Greenwood
American, 1909-1970
Portrait of Alfredo Zalce 1935
Charcoal on paper
Museum purchase
2007.14
Grant Wood
American, 1891-1942
Shrine Quartet 1939
Lithograph
Gift of the Friends of the McNay
1993.31
Kelly Fearing
American, 1918-2011
Boy Flying Kite, Fish Watching 1947-1948
Oil on canvas
Gift of Amy Freeman Lee in honor of Blanche and John Palmer Leeper
1990.15
Milton Avery
American, 1885-1965
Portrait of March, the Artist's Daughter 1950
Oil on panel
Gift of Mrs. Donald W. Saunders
1977.13
Paul Cadmus
American, 1904-1999
Study for Fantasia on a Theme by Dr. S 1946
Ink, graphite, and crayon on paper
Collection of The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
31.2004
Malvina Hoffman
American, 1885-1966
Column of Life 1917
Bronze
Museum purchase in memory of John Palmer Leeper with funds from Marian Harwell, by exchange, and the members of the McNay
1996.37
Marsden Hartley
American, 1877 - 1943
New England Still Life ca. 1928-1929
Oil on canvas
Collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art. Purchased with funds
provided by The Painting and Sculpture Council, Mrs. Ferdinand P. Herff, and
Endowment Funds
Burgoyne Diller
American, 1906-1965
Still Life 1930
Oil on canvas
Gift of Victoria M. Tillman and Museum purchase with the
Alvin Whitley Estate
2003.40
Arshile Gorky
American, born Armenia, 1904-1948
Composition with Vegetables ca. 1928
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Albert Erskine to the Mari and James A. Michener Collection
Alfred Maurer
American, 1868-1932
Still Life with Watermelons and Shrimp 1930
Oil on panel
Gift of the Friends of the McNay
1960.4
Walt Kuhn
American, 1877-1949
Apple Basket 1933
Oil on canvas
Gift of Alice N. Hanszen
1976.38
Chester Toney
American, 1925-1960
Still Life
Oil on panel
Museum purchase
1962.5
Fannie Hillsmith
American, 1911-2007
The Portrait 1947
Watercolor and ink on paper
Gift of Alice C. Simkins
2018.18
Lois Mailou Jones
American, 1905-1998
A le Petit Dejeuner 1937
Oil on canvas
The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts
Charles Sheeler
American, 1883-1965
Still Life 1931
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Michener Acquisitions Fund
Rebecca Salsbury James
American, 1891-1968
Calla Lily in Vase ca. 1930
Oil on glass
Collection of The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Laura Wheeler Waring
American, 1887-1948
Still Life with Heather 1927
Oil on canvas
The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts
Charles Demuth
American, 1883-1935
From the Kitchen Garden 1925
Watercolor and graphite on paper
Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay
1950.33