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Galerie Beyeler

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Kurt Schwitters, Constructive Composition, 1923, collage attached to a wove support sheet, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2012.92.127

Constructive Composition

Kurt Schwitters · 1923 · collage attached to a wove support sheet ·  Accession ID  2012.92.127

Two abstracted creatures, one resembling a goat holding a staff and the other a stylized mermaid, sit facing us on on a rectangular base in this free-standing bronze sculpture. The head of the goat creature, to our left in this photograph, has wide horns to either side of a ridge suggesting a heavy brow. The triangular head tapers down to a ring that suggests the muzzle of the goat. The body is made up of broad geometric shapes. There is a stylized phallus where the body meets the block we read as a lap, and two rounded forms suggestive of human feet protrude from the base of that block. The creature reaches out with his right arm, to our left, to wrap a large, human fist around the staff. The staff swells and narrows in angular hourglass shapes and is topped by what could be a rectangular, abstracted face with two eye holes, a flattened nose, and a slit for a mouth. The goat’s other hand rests near that knee, and in it he holds a creature about the height of the goat’s torso. That smaller creature has a scooped, cup-like form where the head would be, a long neck, and two mounds reminiscent of breasts above a textured fish’s tail. Below, as if affixed to the front of the goat’s lap, a disk-like face has two rings for eyes and a tongue protruding from a round mouth. Other forms over the forehead and one next to the face read as flattened hands or claws. Next to the large goat creature, to our right, the second, tall creature has a head made up of a disk with two mounds for eyes and a beak stacked in front of a second, larger disk. A form like an abstracted fish or arrow moves through or behind her head. The creature has a long, slender neck and an armless torso, shaped roughly like the body of a violin. The torso has rounded shoulders, two mounds to suggest breasts, and a hole for a belly button. Her textured fish’s tail curves down so the fin falls slightly over the front of the base on which they sit. The bronze surface of the sculpture varies from dark brown to faint gold where the light catches it. The sculpture and bronze base sit on a white platform. The floor beneath is pale pink, shiny marble and the wall behind is made up of stone panels streaked with gray.
Max Ernst, Capricorn, model 1947, cast 1975, bronze, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1979.30.1

Capricorn

Max Ernst · model 1947, cast 1975 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1979.30.1

Henri Laurens, L'Instrument de Musique, 1916, collage with charcoal and white chalk on brown paperboard, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1981.97.1

L'Instrument de Musique

Henri Laurens · 1916 · collage with charcoal and white chalk on brown paperboard ·  Accession ID  1981.97.1

Black lines and one small, black triangular shape stand out against patches of color, in indigo and sky blue, pumpkin orange, butter yellow, emerald green, and ruby red, against a white background in this vertical, abstract painting. The paint seems thinly applied, resembling watercolor. Near the lower right corner, the black shape is roughly triangular and has five curving, parallel lines emanating from the bottom. Given the title of this painting, Improvisation 31, Sea Battle, the black lines could represent tall masts and outlines of sails amid areas of vibrant color that make up a boat and water around it.
Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), 1913, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1978.48.1

Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle)

Wassily Kandinsky · 1913 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1978.48.1

Overlapping, geometric shapes painted in tones of tan, oatmeal, and coffee brown and outlined in black cluster along the center of this tall, vertical, abstract painting. Except for the outlines, the paint is put on in long, horizontal strokes to create patches of color. The unpainted canvas shows through in some areas, especially in the lower corners and up along the right edge. A few shapes could recall body parts, like curved shapes for breasts near the top and an angled line for an elbow. The artist signed the work with black paint at the lower center: “Picasso.”
Pablo Picasso, Nude Woman, 1910, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1972.46.1

Nude Woman

Pablo Picasso · 1910 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.46.1

Bridget Riley, Abstraction, 1975, screenprint in blue, green, and pink on wove paper, Gift of Galerie Beyeler, 1988.43.2

Abstraction

Bridget Riley · 1975 · screenprint in blue, green, and pink on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1988.43.2

Robert Motherwell, Personnage, 1945, oil on canvas board, Gift of Aaron I. Fleischman, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.44.1

Personnage

Robert Motherwell · 1945 · oil on canvas board ·  Accession ID  1991.44.1

Shapes cut from pieces of painted paper suggest a person and flowers on this abstracted, horizontal composition. Slivers, curving segments, and circles made with black paper make up the silhouetted body of a person to the right. A shape with four long fingers extending downward suggests a marigold-yellow skirt around the person’s hips. Four-petaled flowers in shades of aquamarine blue, butter yellow, shamrock green, red, fuchsia, and orange float around the person, mostly to the left. A few pairs of black slivers suggest flying birds. The canvas background is streaked with ivory white and pale peach.
Henri Matisse, La Négresse, 1952, paper collage on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.6.1

La Négresse

Henri Matisse · 1952 · paper collage on canvas ·  Accession ID  1973.6.1

Lenz Klotz, Abstraction, probably 1974, etching on wove paper, Gift of Galerie Beyeler, 1988.43.1

Abstraction

Lenz Klotz · probably 1974 · etching on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1988.43.1

Boldly colored abstract forms line most of the left and right thirds of this vertical painting to leave the central channel mostly white. The forms are angular and irregular with jagged edges. Those on the left are mostly royal blue and emerald green, and those on the right are largely fuchsia pink and red. Violet-purple, black, and yellow areas and streaks are on both sides. The center is spotted with thin drips of paint, fine spatters, or tiny dots of paint.
Sam Francis, White Line, 1958/1959, oil on canvas, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1985.56.1

White Line

Sam Francis · 1958/1959 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1985.56.1