Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Josefowitz

Explore Selected Works

Set in an outdoor garden, a sculpture with two tall metal arms curve up like stylized tree branches to hold a sign between them, which reads, “METROPOLITAIN.” In this photograph, the sign faces us and fence-like rows of panels extend back from the posts, and across the back to enclose three sides. The panels, posts, and the framework holding the sign are all painted sage green. Each panel has a rounded top with a two-lobed, medallion-like center. The arms of the posts reach above the sign, and each curves up and over a burgundy-red light that hangs down like a flower bud. Three wooden benches sit within the enclosure. The sculpture is set within a garden with tall trees, a grassy lawn, and umbrella-covered café tables and chairs. A silver, metal tree rises in the near distance to our left.
Hector Guimard, An Entrance to the Paris Métropolitain, model 1902, fabricated 1902/1913, painted cast iron and bronze, Gift of Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod, 2000.2.1

An Entrance to the Paris Métropolitain

Hector Guimard · model 1902, fabricated 1902/1913 · painted cast iron and bronze ·  Accession ID  2000.2.1

We look across the ruins of a white stone and brick building to a second set of ruins, now of gray stone against a butter-yellow sky in this horizontal landscape painting. Blocks and shards in tan, ivory and parchment white, pale orange, and light yellow are heaped along the bottom edge of the composition. The partially standing wall on the far side supports a few curved tiles, presumably from the previous roof. Long, vivid-green grass grows on both sides of this wall. On a low hill beyond the first ruins, partial arches and fragments of walls rise from a mound of gray rubble. Black lines suggest other supports in the building. The horizon comes about halfway up the painting, and a few trees with dark green canopies and spindly trunks are silhouetted against the yellow sky. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “F. VALLOTTON. 17.”
Félix Vallotton, The Church of Souain, 1917, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund, 1990.30.1

The Church of Souain

Félix Vallotton · 1917 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1990.30.1