Provenance

Sidney Janis Gallery

Explore selected works

See all 12 works of art
Angular, geometric shapes in charcoal and smoke black, pewter and silver gray, white, pale pink, and coral orange pile up to form a rough pyramid shape that fills the height of this square, abstract painting. More fragmented shapes in cobalt, azure, and light blue fill the upper left and right corners to either side of the apex, and one triangular space on its middle left. The artist has inscribed, “LA PROCESSION SEVILLE” in black capital letters near the top right edge and “Picabia” in the lower right.
Francis Picabia, The Procession, Seville, 1912, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund and Gift of Barbara Rothschild Michaels from the Collection of Herbert and Nannette Rothschild, 1997, 1997.43.1

The Procession, Seville

Francis Picabia · 1912 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1997.43.1

This painting shows geometric shapes and intersecting lines that suggest a group of people in a fractured view. Angular planes suggest faces and limbs, with colorful shapes that could be clothing. In the center, shapes form the vague appearance of a person in a light blue shirt with light brown skin holding a brown oval. Other people seem to reach towards this person, with disembodied hands pointing towards the center of the painting. At the bottom of the painting, several sets of legs and feet are visible. At the top, white curving shapes could indicate smoke or clouds.
Albert Gleizes, Football Players, 1912/1913, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1970.11.1

Football Players

Albert Gleizes · 1912/1913 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.11.1

This painting is a portrait of a woman from the chest upwards. The woman is facing us. Her facial features are abstract and stylized, with red lips, thin dark eyebrows, and small eyes. Her skin is painted in bold, expressive brush strokes in shades of cream, peach, and light pink. The woman has dark hair that is mostly obscured by an elaborate hat adorned with abstract floral patterns in dark blue, green, and white, with accents of orange around the edges. She wears a high-collared garment depicted in thick strokes of yellow, dark blue, and black. The background consists of dynamic strokes of different shades of greens and blues, adding a sense of movement to the painting.
Maurice de Vlaminck, Woman with a Hat, 1906, oil on canvas, Donated by Lolo Sarnoff in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert von Hirsch, 1981.84.1

Woman with a Hat

Maurice de Vlaminck · 1906 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1981.84.1

A tangerine-colored rectangle and a butter yellow rectangle float against a golden yellow field in this abstract, vertical painting. At the top, the tangerine rectangle extends nearly the width of the painting and goes from near the top edge to just short of halfway down the painting. Below it, a larger rectangle in glowing yellow tones anchors the bottom three-fifths of the painting. The yellow of the bottom rectangle varies from sunshine yellow to tan. The warm, ochre-colored background is painted in a flat, uniform way, and it creates a border around and between the rectangles. The brushstrokes within the rectangles have soft, indistinct edges, with a blurred effect. The tangerine-colored rectangle is formed with upward vertical strokes made with a wide brush that are denser at the bottom and end in a wispy edge at the top. The bottom yellow rectangle has varied brushwork that forms soft, and indistinct cloud-like shapes within the geometric form. At the bottom right edge of the upper, tangerine rectangle, a hint of a vertical, blue-green stroke of paint emerges from beneath the ochre background. Around the edges of the lower, yellow rectangle are subtle hints of tangerine and sometimes blue-green bleeding from around all four edges.
Mark Rothko, Orange and Tan, 1954, pigmented hide glue and oil on canvas, Gift of Enid A. Haupt, 1977.47.13

Orange and Tan

Mark Rothko · 1954 · pigmented hide glue and oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1977.47.13

This abstract, geometric painting has been tipped on one corner to create a diamond form rather than a square. The surface of the canvas is crisscrossed by an irregular grid of black lines running vertically and horizontally like offset ladders. The black lines create squares and rectangles of different sizes, and the width of the lines vary slightly. One complete square sits at the center of the composition and is painted white. Other rectangles are incomplete, their corners sliced by the edge of the canvas, and each is a different shade of white with hints of pale blue and gray. The black grid creates triangular forms where it meets the angled edge of the canvas in some places, and some of these are filled with flat areas of color. A tomato-red triangle is placed to the left of the top center point, and a vibrant yellow triangle is to the left of the lower center point. A black triangle is next to it at the bottom center, and a cobalt-blue triangle is situated just below the right point. The painting is signed with the artist’s initials at the lower center: “PM.”
Piet Mondrian, Tableau No. IV; Lozenge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow, and Black, c. 1924/1925, oil on canvas, Gift of Herbert and Nannette Rothschild, 1971.51.1

Tableau No. IV; Lozenge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow, and Black

Piet Mondrian · c. 1924/1925 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1971.51.1

A French window with its sill lined with flowerpots opens into a view of boats floating in a body of water in this loosely painted, vibrantly colored, stylized, vertical painting. The doors open inward, and they are painted with coral orange and cranberry red. The wall behind the door to the left is peacock blue and the wall to our right is fuchsia pink, and those colors are reflected in the opposite windows of the doors. Three flowerpots in crimson red, marmalade orange, or royal blue sit on the windowsill in front of us. Foliage in the pots is painted with short strokes of cardinal red and turquoise blue. Over the window, a two-paned transom window pierces a forest-green wall. The view through the panes has a band of salmon pink across the top and dabs of celery green and banana yellow below. The dabs and dashes of pine and lime green continue down the sides of the window and across the sill, suggesting vines growing up around the opening. A band of ultramarine blue beyond the flowerpots could be a balcony. Several rust-orange masts of ships with hulls painted with swipes of indigo blue, flamingo pink, forest green, and marigold orange float in the water beyond. The water is painted with parallel strokes in pale pink and butter yellow. The sky above is painted with thick, wavy lines of steel blue, periwinkle purple, and seafoam green. The artist signed the work in red paint in the lower right, “Henri Matisse.”
Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1998.74.7

Open Window, Collioure

Henri Matisse · 1905 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1998.74.7

Trees and mountains nearly fill this composition and are painted with long, mostly parallel brushstrokes in this horizontal landscape. The trees are painted with long dashes of royal and aquamarine blue, pine and mint green to suggest leaves on coral-red trunks. The grass below is lemon-lime yellow, and a walking path is picked out with lavender-purple strokes. The mountains beyond the trees are painted with flat areas of coral, apricot orange, and cobalt blue. The sky above is pale turquoise with a few swirling, cream-colored clouds.
André Derain, Mountains at Collioure, 1905, oil on canvas, John Hay Whitney Collection, 1982.76.4

Mountains at Collioure

André Derain · 1905 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1982.76.4

The sculpture features an abstract form with smoothly contoured organic shapes that are rounded and intertwined. The upper part is white and made of a smooth material, while the base is textured, grayish, and likely made of concrete or stone. The contrast between the matte base and the polished sculpture creates a distinct visual difference. The sculpture appears modern and minimalist, with a balance of solidity in the base and fluidity in the form above.
Jean (Hans) Arp, Mirr, 1936/1960, marble, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, 1977.75.6

Mirr

Jean (Hans) Arp · 1936/1960 · marble ·  Accession ID  1977.75.6

Four ivory-white, free-standing, nude women dance in a circle on a wooden surface against a deeply shadowed background. In this photograph, the two women on the far side of the circle face us, one to our left turns away from us, and the one closest to us faces our left in profile. The one facing our left leans forward with her arms spread wide at shoulder height. Her near leg extends back, and the other leg is bent slightly at the knee. The woman to our left has her back to us. Her right arm reaches out to her right, and she steps forward onto the ball of her left foot. The third woman stands beyond and between the first two. She is angled to our right with her arms spread outward and her right leg, on our left, stepping back. The final woman is on the right and faces us with her head bowed down and to our left. She spreads her arms out just below shoulder-height, and her feet are turned in opposite directions.
George Segal, The Dancers, model 1971, cast 1982, bronze with white patina, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1983.78.1

The Dancers

George Segal · model 1971, cast 1982 · bronze with white patina ·  Accession ID  1983.78.1

The image displays a series of concentric squares arranged in an abstract composition. The squares vary in color, with a bright yellow square at the center, surrounded by a pale peach square, a burnt orange square, and a vivid red-orange outer square.
Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: "Yes", 1956, casein on hardboard, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund, 1957), 2014.136.77

Homage to the Square: "Yes"

Josef Albers · 1956 · casein on hardboard ·  Accession ID  2014.136.77