Modern Art 1910–1940

On View: East Building, Upper Level

Filter Results

50 artworks on view.

Results

A collection of geometric shapes, many painted a single color, are arranged on a background painted to look like wood grain in this abstract vertical composition. A silvery gray, upside down, wide L shape fills most of the upper half to our right of center. On it, a rose-pink square is attached to an ivory-white rectangle suggestive of a handle, and a black triangle with a similar handle sits on the L form to our left. A rectangular piece of corrugated silver metal is tucked into the corner of the L shape. A black circle, a white conical form, and a curving, sage-green piece create a row from right to left down into the lower left corner of the composition.

Suprematist Construction Montage

Ivan Puni

1915/1916

Painted wood, metal and cardboard  Accession ID  1976.70.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
The sculpture appears to be a shadowbox featuring several images and objects. The back wall of the box is mostly occupied by a blue-tinted image of a man in a dark suit with a high ruffled collar, surrounded by a thin white border. There appear to be transparent vertical slats over the image, creating a grid pattern. On the left and right, this same image appears to have been reproduced multiple times in a much smaller size, with these smaller images stacked to form vertical columns. There is a horizontal glass shelf towards the bottom of the box, and on it rests a small orange spherical object. Below this shelf, on the bottom of the box, is a larger purple spherical object. These images and objects are surrounded by a dark brown frame carved with thin lines.

Untitled (Medici Prince)

Joseph Cornell

c. 1953

Construction  Accession ID  1982.54.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
This painting consists of intersecting lines and geometric shapes, creating a complex grid-like structure that forms an abstract composition. Rectangles, triangles, circles are prominent. Some parts of the image hint at familiar forms such as houses or fish, though they are not explicitly depicted. The color palette features shades of pale reds, yellows, and blues, in some cases the colors are blended together.

Untitled Composition

Joaquín Torres-García

1929

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  2010.15.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
The sculpture is abstract and has a rugged, textured surface resembling natural rock or lava formations. It is predominantly dark gray with rust-colored patches. The material appears to be stone or metal with a rough, porous texture. The sculpture stands upright on a beige base. Its form is irregular and asymmetrical, with numerous protrusions and recesses.

L'amphigourique (The Amphigoric One)

Jean Dubuffet

1954

Slag  Accession ID  1995.30.5

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
This painting shows a large guitar and two bottles. The large, reddish-brown guitar is to the right of center. In front of it are the bottles. The bottle on the left is thinner and appears to be partially filled with a red substance, while the one on the right is larger, with a ribbed body, and appears empty. The three objects cast dark shadows on a tan wall to the left, and the shadow highlights the long neck of the guitar. The wall behind the objects is gray, and the surface they rest on is tan.

Still Life with Carafe, Bottle, and Guitar

Amédée Ozenfant

1919

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  2006.112.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
The sculpture depicts a letter partially enveloped by another piece. The color scheme is primarily grayscale with white and gray hues. The material appears to be metal or a hard substance, with a smooth and somewhat reflective surface. The subject is positioned in a three-dimensional relief style on a flat base, creating a sense of depth. The composition is enclosed within a shadow box with a border framing the piece.

Untitled (The Letter)

Robert Morris

1964

Painted lead  Accession ID  2005.49.2

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
This painting features a scene with curved walls and arches. To the left of the painting, there is a person in maroon and grey attire hiding behind a curved wall. To the right, four elongated human figures in dark attire with top hats appear to be floating in midair to the left around a circular structure. One of the floating people turns toward us, while the other three face ahead. The walls are a dark yellow color, while the sky behind the curved structure is red with dark, branch-like shapes.

Banqueros en acción (Bankers in Action)

Remedios Varo

1962

Oil on fiberboard  Accession ID  2023.48.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
This image shows a roughly rectangular shape within a worn wooden frame. Inside the frame is a white textured canvas with an abstract composition of layered paper fragments and text. Some fragments resemble torn posters or advertisements with text like "Grand Hotel BON PORT" and "Ostend Hotel." An irregularly-shaped patch reveals a colorful printed design with an illustration resembling a cat's face, akin to a vintage travel poster or hotel advertisement. The scene suggests the back of a stretched canvas, offering a glimpse into the layered and overlapping nature of objects and memories.

Untitled (Grand Hotel Bon Port, Ostend Hotel)

Joseph Cornell

1954

Box construction  Accession ID  2023.124.17

Not on view

Leonora Carrington

Kati Horna

1957

Collage of chromolithograph, gelatin silver print, applied color, and metal chain  Accession ID  2025.60.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
""

Sculpture with Color and Strings

Barbara Hepworth

model 1939, cast 1961

Bronze  Accession ID  2017.124.4

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
A scene with a person holding a cornucopia is set against a night sky on this wood block. The person has peachy-brown skin and long silvery hair. A piece of drapery, also silver, flows around the hips as the person holds a cornucopia angled down and to the left. Blue and green material pours or hangs out of the horn. The person is contained within a silver oval frame. Fifteen green teardrop- or sperm-shaped orbs approach the oval to the left and fourteen approach from the right. Everything described so far is shown in low relief on the wood block. A translucent star is pinned or nailed to the panel near the top left corner and a translucent, crescent moon to the top right. To either side of the person are textured triangular shapes. The form to the left is green and points up, like a mountain, and the form to the right is blue and points in, like a cresting wave. Both have ragged edges and appear to be carved and affixed with nails, the heads of which are visible. Two translucent rectangles, possibly the same material as the star and moon, lie side-by-side between the green and blue forms on the bottom edge of the block.

Twilight Awakening

Betye Saar

1978

Mixed media on printer's wood block  Accession ID  2015.27.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415
There are white circular shapes in a grid pattern on the canvas. A triangle splits two sections. Circles are repeated, and an open circle is present. In the corner, four circles are within a square. The shapes have shadows and depth.

Untitled

Loló Soldevilla

1955

Mixed media and wood components on wood panel  Accession ID  2023.46.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E415

Loading Results