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American Modernism: The Shein Collection

May 16, 2010 – January 2, 2011
East Building, Ground Floor, Northeast

John Marin, The Written Sea, 1952, oil on canvas, Gift of Deborah and Ed Shein, 2009.12.1

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 21 works by 19 artists were shown in this exhibition of early modernist paintings, sculptures, and drawings selected from the collection of Edward and Deborah Shein. Included were works by Charles Sheeler, Joseph Stella, Arthur B. Davies, Charles Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe, and others. Three of the works on view, a painting by John Marin and sculptures by John Storrs and Marcel Duchamp, had been given to the National Gallery of Art by the Sheins in 2008 and 2009.

Nancy Anderson, curator and head, and Charles Brock, associate curator, department of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art, presented the lecture "American Modernism: The Shein Collection." A public symposium, "The Early Modernists and America," was held on November 6 in the East Building Auditorium. Pianist Terry Waldo presented a concert of early American jazz on November 7 and the National Gallery of Art Piano Trio performed music by American composers on May 16 in honor of the exhibition.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art. Nancy Anderson, curator and head of American and British paintings, Charles Brock, associate curator of American and British paintings, and Harry Cooper, curator of modern and contemporary art, were curators.

Sponsor: The concert on May 16 was supported by The Gottesman Fund in memory of Milton M. Gottesman.

Attendance: 157,480 (232 days)

Catalog: American Modernism: The Shein Collection, by Charles Brock et al. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2010.

Education Resource: Art since 1950

Gallery Shops: Exhibition Catalog

The Early Modernists in America
Audio, Released: January 4, 2011, (207:20 minutes)
American Modernism: The Shein Collection
Audio, Released: June 1, 2010, (13:34 minutes)
Press Event: American Modernism: The Shein Collection
Audio, Released: May 11, 2010, (38:33 minutes)