Provenance

Agnes Ernst Meyer

Meyer, Agnes E.
Meyer, Eugene, Mrs.

American, 1887 - 1970

Explore selected works

See all 23 works of art
A polished bronze, free-standing sculpture of an abstracted bird stands on a marble plinth set on a tall wood base. The bird form is created with an oblong, egg-shaped body. The head curves up like a hook and the end parts as if in a beak. The wings are tucked against the body. The bronze sculpture sits on a cream-white, tall marble cube. Shaped like an angular hourglass, the wood base is almost twice as high as the bronze sculpture and marble cube combined.
Constantin Brâncuși, Maiastra, c. 1911, polished bronze, Gift of Katharine Graham, 1980.75.1

Maiastra

Constantin Brâncuși · c. 1911 · polished bronze ·  Accession ID  1980.75.1

A bearded man with a coppery-peach completion, wearing a dark, navy-blue brimmed cap, vest, jacket, and pants sits on a wooden bench or chair against a green background in this vertical portrait. The scene is loosely painted with thick, visible brushstrokes in kelly and shamrock green, deep, midnight blue, tawny brown, and charcoal gray to create a mottled effect. The man’s body is angled to our right and he looks in that direction. His legs are crossed and are cropped below the knees by the bottom right corner of the canvas. His fingers are interlaced in his lap with one thumb hooked between buttons on his vest. He has a long nose and his lips are closed. Touches of vibrant robin’s egg blue, sage green, pumpkin orange, and brick red enliven the dark clothing and shadows on the man’s features.
Paul Cezanne, The Gardener Vallier, 1906, oil on canvas, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1959.2.1

The Gardener Vallier

Paul Cezanne · 1906 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.2.1

An abstracted jug, bottles, shapes reminiscent of balled up paper or fabric, and a needle-like letter opener are gathered on a wood square in this horizontal still life painting. Rectangles in shades of corn yellow, violet purple, burgundy red-and-black checks, white, black, and spruce green splay out behind the objects like untidily stacked placemats. The brown jug is at the center, and an echo of its form in teal blue presumably represents a shadow. Portions of the jug, wooden board, and crumpled material shift color and pattern as they intersect or overlap with other areas. The artist’s initials, “DMR,” are stenciled in yellow in the lower left corner.
Diego Rivera, No. 9, Nature Morte Espagnole, 1915, oil on canvas, Gift of Katharine Graham, 2002.19.1

No. 9, Nature Morte Espagnole

Diego Rivera · 1915 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2002.19.1

The top half of this abstract sculpture is made up of a vertical, elongated form carved from white marble that swells gently at the center and tapers to a point at either end. Near the bottom point, the form flares out slightly to make a tall, conical foot. This sits atop a base made of three stacked pieces that together are about the same height as the swelling form. First, just below the elongated form, a short cylinder sits on the center of a piece that would look like a plus sign if viewed from above. Both the cylinder and plus-sign are carved from cream-colored stone, so are a little darker than the whiter, swelling form above. The tall, dark brown wooden base below is carved in a shape like an angular hourglass.
Constantin Brâncuși, Bird in Space, 1925, marble, stone, and wood, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1967.13.3

Bird in Space

Constantin Brâncuși · 1925 · marble, stone, and wood ·  Accession ID  1967.13.3

The sculpture is an abstract, elongated form. It is upright and smoothly curved, with a shiny black surface. The sculpture is comprised of curving segments that blend together, almost like an abstracted human leg with exaggerated bulges. It stands on a square block, which is placed on a cylindrical base of the same glossy black material.
Constantin Brâncuși, Agnes E. Meyer, 1929, marble, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1967.13.4

Agnes E. Meyer

Constantin Brâncuși · 1929 · marble ·  Accession ID  1967.13.4

The sculpture depicts a nude female figure kneeling and leaning forward on a textured base resembling a natural, rocky surface. Her head is tilted upward and slightly to the right, and her arms are on either side of her, her hands pressed against the ground. The material of the sculpture is white and smooth.
Auguste Rodin, Figure of a Woman "The Sphinx", model early 1880s, carved 1909, marble, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1967.13.6

Figure of a Woman "The Sphinx"

Auguste Rodin · model early 1880s, carved 1909 · marble ·  Accession ID  1967.13.6

About a dozen rust-orange and golden yellow apples and peaches are arranged on a white plate next to white and floral-patterned cloths nestled around a white pitcher and bowl, all on a wood tabletop that tilts toward us in this nearly square still life painting. A curtain patterned with royal blue, olive green, and beige falls along or near the back wall of the room and rests on the table to our left. The white pitcher is painted loosely with the suggestion of harvest-gold and pale lilac-purple flowers, and it sits amid the pooling folds of the curtain to our left. The white tablecloth is bunched under and next to it to our right, at the middle of the composition. The fruit is arranged on and around a white plate next to the tablecloth. A tall bowl with fluted sides and a ruffled, scalloped rim sits behind the fruit, near the right edge of the table. The curving skirt of the table reaches nearly to the bottom edge of the canvas. All the objects in the painting are outlined with dark blue and the shadows are painted with patches of spruce and cobalt blue.
Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Apples and Peaches, c. 1905, oil on canvas, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1959.15.1

Still Life with Apples and Peaches

Paul Cezanne · c. 1905 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.15.1

We look across a forested ravine painted in deep greens and blues at a terracotta-orange building at the top of a hill at the center of this nearly square, loosely painted landscape. Spring and moss-green trees grow along the ravine in front of us and up the left side of the canvas. Shadows within the densely forested area are painted with slate and royal blue with touches of plum and lavender purple, and the blue continues into the sky in the upper right quadrant of the composition. The sky is visible through the pointed, arched windows on the upper level of the building, giving the impression that it might be incomplete or in ruins. The building is made up of two stories over a protruding base, which could be a fortress-like structure below or a cliff face. Loose, thick brushstrokes are visible throughout.
Paul Cezanne, Château Noir, 1900/1904, oil on canvas, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1958.10.1

Château Noir

Paul Cezanne · 1900/1904 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1958.10.1

The sculpture depicts a scene of a large cat, like a tiger or lioness, attacking an antelope. The antelope is shown in a struggling posture beneath the tiger. The sculpture is in a dark, metallic brown hue. It has high detail, with fine textures on the animals. The base of the sculpture is simple, keeping focus on the interaction above.
Antoine-Louis Barye, Tiger Surprising an Antelope, model c. 1831, cast after 1855, bronze, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1967.13.2

Tiger Surprising an Antelope

Antoine-Louis Barye · model c. 1831, cast after 1855 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1967.13.2

A towering skyscraper zooms up and away from us in this loosely painted, vertical watercolor. People and buildings crowding the bottom third of the composition are painted in almost abstract shapes in tones of lapis and slate blue, harvest yellow, garnet red. In the center of the composition, the lower two-thirds of the Woolworth Building are lined with ghostly rows of pale blue and brown windows over mostly blank, cream-white paper. The top third of the building is painted with more saturated violet and smoky purple beneath a coral red tip. Slashes and swishes in pastel peach, blue, and yellow fill the sky.
John Marin, Woolworth Building, No. 28, 1912, watercolor over graphite, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1967.13.8

Woolworth Building, No. 28

John Marin · 1912 · watercolor over graphite ·  Accession ID  1967.13.8

Bibliography

1944

  • Meyer, Agnes E. Journey Through Chaos. New York, 1944.

1953

  • Meyer, Agnes E. Out of These Roots, The Autobiography of an American Woman. Boston, 1953.

1970

  • "Mrs. Agnes Meyer Dies at 83; Writer Active in Social Causes." The New York Times 2 September 1970 [obituary]

1980

  • Hyland, Douglas K.S. "Agnes Ernst Meyer, Patron of American Modernism." The American Art Journal 12, no. 1 (Winter 1980): 64+.