Modern Art 1940–1980

On View: East Building, Upper Level

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78 artworks on view.

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Densely spaced lines and splatters in black, white, pale salmon pink, teal, and steel gray crisscross a rectangular cream-colored canvas in this abstract horizontal painting. The lines move in every direction. Most are straight but some curve slightly. The density eases a bit near the edges. Two sets of ghostly white handprints are visible at the upper corners. The artist signed and dated the painting in black paint in the lower left corner: “Jackson Pollock ’50.”

Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)

Jackson Pollock

1950

Oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas  Accession ID  1976.37.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Abstracted forms are painted in grass green, black, pepper red, butter yellow, tawny beige, rose pink, and a few touches of ocean blue in this horizontal composition. The paint is applied thinly, almost like watercolor wash. Translucent layers of paint drip down the canvas and knit the colors and shapes together. Most of the forms create a roughly pyramidal shape at the center. Some are vaguely square-shaped while others are oval, circular, or triangular. Many of the forms are outlined in black, and some have spots of color at their centers. For instance, a cluster of shapes near the lower right includes two canted parallelograms outlined with black. One has an emerald-green oval at its center and the other a black oval. Other shapes in that area include a rust-red triangle, a solid black anvil-shaped form, and a butternut-orange circle surrounded by vibrant yellow. A caramel-brown area spans the bottom edge of the canvas. The artist signed and dated the lower left corner, “A. Gorky 44.”

One Year the Milkweed

Arshile Gorky

1944

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1979.13.2

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
The Disney cartoon characters, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, fish off a dock in this horizontal painting. The scene and characters are painted entirely flat areas of canary yellow, cobalt blue, tomato red, and white. To our left, Donald leans over the edge of the dock with his feet spread and duckbill hanging open. He has a white body outlined in blue, big eyes filled with a pattern of tiny blue dots, and yellow feet and duckbill. He wears a blue sailor’s hat and jacket with a red bow tie and yellow circles indicating buttons. He holds a fishing pole with an oval, red bobber near the fishhook high over his head. The pole has bent back with the fishhook snagged on the back hem of Donald’s jacket. A white speech bubble over Donald’s head is outlined in blue, and blue text inside reads, “LOOK MICKEY, I’VE HOOKED A BIG ONE!!” Mickey stands to our right, covering his smiling mouth with his left hand, on our right, and holding an upright fishing pole with the other hand. His round face is filled with a pattern of tiny red dots, and his curving hairline and ears are blue. He wears blue pants, a red shirt and shoes, and white gloves. The dock is mostly yellow with a white area on the right. Its planks and three white, round posts supporting it are outlined in blue. Rippling water surrounding the dock is defined by wavy lines and undulating bands of blue against a yellow background. The artist signed his initials in the lower left, “rfl.”

Look Mickey

Roy Lichtenstein

1961

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1990.41.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Rectangles and bands of saturated colors are stacked agasint a golden yellow field in this abstract, vertical painting. About a quarter of the way down the composition a thin strip of vibrant orange rests on a thicker, wider band of deep plum purple, which almost spans the width of the canvas. Just below and as wide as the purple band, the largest, velvety black rectangle takes up at least a third of the composition. A narrower rectangular area below was painted with copper green over rusty orange. The edges of all of the forms are soft and blended.

Untitled

Mark Rothko

1949

Pigmented hide glue and oil on canvas  Accession ID  1986.43.138

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This vertical painting imitates the front page of a newspaper, with mostly black text in different sizes against a white background. The bottom two-thirds is dominated by a black and white photograph of a woman and three lines of a single, large headline. To our left, the narrow, vertical portrait shows a smiling woman looking off to our left from the corners of her eyes. She has prominent, arching eyebrows and wears a white, possibly fuzzy hat over dark hair. The background behind her is charcoal gray. The largest text on the page fills the space next to her, to our right. It reads, “A BOY FOR MEG” in slanted letters. Under her portrait is the caption, “See Page 3” in small text. Moving to the top third of the painting: at the top left is a square portrait showing just the face of a man wearing a fedora, done in sky and royal blue. The caption under the portrait reads, “In the Magazine.” The headline that runs next to it has white text against ocean blue, and it reads, “Sinatra and his ‘Rat Pack’ TODAY: The Leader Himself (Con’t).” In the horizontal zone beneath the blue banner and above the portrait and headline about Meg, the title of the newspaper is the “New York Post.” To the left, a box reads, “WEATHER Fog tonight. in the 60s. Tomorrow: cloudy and warm, chance of showers.” In a box under the newspaper name, it reads, “NEW YORK, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1961 10 Cents.” A secondary headline, to our right, reads, “LATEST STOCK PRICES Pages 85-88.”

A Boy for Meg

Andy Warhol

1962

Oil and egg emulsion on canvas  Accession ID  1971.87.11

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This painting features various swirling and interlocking shapes and lines creating a complex composition. It includes forms similar to naked human figures, although some are in strange positions and some are only partially visible. In the upper left corner, there are vertical red and white striped lines that evoke the American flag. Near the upper-left corner are some shapes that look like tree limbs. Below those, a strange blue shape that looks like a ghostly face emerges from the chest of a person. The rest of the shapes are abstract and ambiguous. The background near the top-right corner seems to be black, while the background near the bottom-left corner seems to be white.

Reunión en la OEA (Meeting at the OAS)

Mariano

1965

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  2022.44.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This painting contains three panels showing scenes of people, painted with bold, angular lines and shapes. In the first panel on the far left, a mostly nude woman holding a sword-like object sits opposite a man with a palette. He stands in front of a large canvas and appears to be painting the woman. The middle panel features three people, one holding a ladder and another holding what appears to be a large bird, with the third person standing in front of them and facing away from us. Two of the people are nude and the third wears only pants. The rightmost panel portrays individuals surrounded by musical instruments, including a stringed instrument held by one person and a sheet of music in another's hand. All three panels are painted with bold, thick lines, and shades of light pink, purple, and gray dominate the piece, with areas of purple, green, and light blue.

The Argonauts

Max Beckmann

1949/1950

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1975.96.1.a-c

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This vertical painting depicts two people creating art. In the background, a male figure with light skin and brown hair faces the right, leaning towards a large blank canvas and holding a paintbrush and a palette. He wears a short-sleeved shirt with checkered patterns. In front of him, a female figure sits atop what appears to be a pale-yellow helmet, her body facing the left and her head turned away from us. She has light, pink-toned skin and dark hair put up in a bun. Her torso is nude, and she has a red cloth wrapped around her left arm. Her legs are mostly bare aside from a short green garment and high yellow sandals. In her hands, she holds a long blue sword. There is a small potted plant in the bottom left corner, and the background is in muted tones of light gray.

The Argonauts [left panel]

Max Beckmann

1949/1950

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1975.96.1.a

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407

The Argonauts [middle panel]

Max Beckmann

1949/1950

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1975.96.1.b

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407

The Argonauts [right panel]

Max Beckmann

1949/1950

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1975.96.1.c

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This painting displays an abstract composition with irregular, textured forms. The central shape is similar to an irregular oval that shows hues of pale pink, blue, purple, and white in thick, textured brushstrokes. The surrounding area features shades of muted beige and gray in soft, sweeping lines that are also visible, but less textured.

Body and Soul

Jean Fautrier

1957

Oil and varnish with sand and dry pigment on paper mounted on canvas  Accession ID  2003.138.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Shown from the knees up, a man with light skin shaded with sage green sits in a carrot-orange, high-backed chair, looking at us in this stylized, vertical portrait. Brown hair sweeps across his forehead and his interlaced fingers rest on his head so his elbows splay to the sides. The green shading is especially noticeable in the contours of his face and the underside of his thin arms. One black eyebrow is slightly arched over pale silver eyes. His pink lips are closed in a straight line and there is the suggestion of a cleft in his chin. He wears a white tee shirt and khaki pants, and his knees are relaxed open. His chest is slightly sunken in as he leans into the chair. The chair and his body and features are outlined in black. Brushstrokes are noticeable throughout, and the background is especially loosely painted. Areas of watery lavender purple, pale blue, and tan suggest the structure of a room. Light falls onto the man from our left.

Hartley

Alice Neel

1966

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1991.143.2

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E406

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