Modern Art 1940–1980

On View: East Building, Upper Level

Filter Results

78 artworks on view.

Results

A broad swath of brilliant, crimson-red paint sweeps down from the top edge of this canvas to fill most of this abstract, vertical composition. The sides of the red field are straight, and the bottom edge is irregular. The red is mottled and streaked. The areas to each side of the red field and along the bottom of the canvas are coffee brown. A slender drip of the brown has fallen down the red area, near the right bottom corner. The artist signed and dated the painting near the lower right corner of the red field: “Barnett Newman 1952.”

Achilles

Barnett Newman

1952

Oil and acrylic resin on canvas  Accession ID  1988.57.5

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407

Desert Landscape

William Baziotes

1951

Oil and charcoal on canvas  Accession ID  1996.81.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This work is created entirely with dripped and splattered black paint against a bone-colored background in this abstract horizontal painting. The left half is a collection of mostly vertical lines above a nest-like patch of crossing lines near the bottom. Many of the vertical lines are spaced apart so only a few overlap, and the lines are marked with splotches that resemble ink blots. To our right, more densely spaced spatters and lightly curving lines combine to create an abstracted face and body of a person. The artist signed and dated the work in black paint in the lower right corner: “Jackson Pollock 51.”

Number 7, 1951

Jackson Pollock

1951

Enamel on canvas  Accession ID  1983.77.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
The image shows overlapping rectangular shapes and broad, sweeping brushstrokes in a harmonious arrangement. The abstract painting features deep black regions intersected with vibrant blue tones.

Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 30 octobre 1957

Pierre Soulages

1957

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1979.67.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Layers of rust-red and bronze-brown, textured paint cover this vertical, abstract canvas. The layers give way to a patch of scarlet-red streaks near the top left corner. A red vein drifts about three-quarters of the way down the canvas. A narrow swipe canary-yellow lines the upper edge of the painting above the red streaks, which are about a quarter of the way across from the left edge. A few minuscule spots of lapis-blue nearly go unnoticed along the right edge of the canvas near the bottom right corner. The artist signed the painting in the lower left corner, “Clyfford.”

PH-571 (1951-N)

Clyfford Still

1951

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1989.87.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Two vertically oriented, rectangular canvases are stacked over each other, and a dart board is affixed to the uppermost edge. The canvases are collaged with newspaper articles, headlines, black-and-white pamphlets, cartoons, comic books, illustrations of animals like chipmunks and buffalo, and a triangular pennant celebrating the “Washington Redskins” as “Super Bowl XXVI CHAMPIONS.” Streaks and drips of red paint create horizontal bands across the panels, separated by bands streaked in yellow. Text is visible throughout, including the title of the pamphlet, which repeats across the composition: “Community Service and Interest Courses/Workshop.” Headlines include “The Heist,” “For People Who Inherited Brains Instead of Wealth,” “Defying the Stereotypes,” and “Destroy The Myth.” The comic is titled “Son of Tomahawk,” and fliers are titled “Help Locate Handicapped Indian Children” and “2nd Annual Flathead Reservation Culture Fair.” One piece of blue fabric with white polka dots is along the bottom edge of the top panel and a piece of red fabric with white dots is along the bottom edge of the lower panel. The outer band of the dart board is smeared with red, and darts with red, blue, yellow, or green feathers line the upper perimeter of the board.

Target

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

1992

Mixed media on canvas  Accession ID  2020.6.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
Five rectangles, each in a single, saturated hue of canary yellow, watermelon pink, blood orange, bright white, or ink black, fit together to make a nearly square abstract painting. In rectangles of descending sizes, the yellow, pink, and orange shapes create a band across the top of the composition. The bottom three-quarters of the composition is made up of the white and black vertical rectangles. The white form takes up two-thirds of the left side, and is topped by the yellow shape. The black rectangle is narrower, and it fills in the space below the pink and orange forms above.

Tiger

Ellsworth Kelly

1953

Oil on five canvases  Accession ID  1992.85.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E406
Scrawled and energetic lines and color are spaced across a scarlet-red background in this horizontal, abstract painting. Textured brushstrokes are visible throughout. From left to right across the top half of the composition are patches of smoke gray, traffic-cone orange, emerald green, and violet purple. An ultramarine and cobalt-blue patch is near the bottom left corner, and smudges of orange and vivid yellow are along the edge at the center and near the bottom right corner of the painting. Curving black lines slice and backtrack around the bottom right quadrant of the composition, and more black encloses or crosses some of the patches of color. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “Hartigan 58.”

Essex and Hester (Red)

Grace Hartigan

1958

Oil on canvas  Accession ID  1996.81.3

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407

Mortise

Louise Bourgeois

1950

Painted wood  Accession ID  1992.102.2

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This painted canvas hangs on the wall loosely from four gathered peaks—one peak on each end to the left and right, and two peaks evenly spaced in between. The fabric is tightly wrapped with a leather cord into a fist-like form to create each peak, except for the right-most peak, where the fabric is knotted. The canvas is stained with large areas of soft color that largely meld together, with mostly pink, peach, and yellow to the left that transitions to violet, turquoise, and sky blue to the right. Hard-edged, vivid orange streaks break through the blues and greens to the right.

Relative

Sam Gilliam

1968

Acrylic on canvas  Accession ID  1994.39.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
The sculpture is tall and abstract, composed of straight and curved lines and geometric shapes that all branch out of a central vertical line. At the top, the sculpture has multiple rectangular forms extending outward in different directions, similar to flags or signposts. Towards the center, thin hooked lines branch outward horizontally, and a wide, vertical, curved shape runs parallel to the central line. At the base, the central line splits into two lines, one which is straight and one which zigzags at the bottom, ending in a circular shape. At the bottom, the lines are also supported by a rectangular outline. The sculpture is made from a dark material and stands on a thin rectangular base.

Sentinel I

David Smith

1956

Steel  Accession ID  1979.51.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E407
This painting shows a side view of a two-story house with a wrap-around porch. The house occupies most of the frame, with a faint, blurred horizon at the bottom left. The siding of the house is in shades of white and gray, and the roof is a slightly darker blue-gray color. Many windows are visible, partially or entirely covered by window shades in pale yellow, light green, and light blue. Near the center of the image, a large American flag is hung on the side of the building under the porch. It ripples slightly in the wind. On the left, by the red door of the house, an indistinct person sits on a bench or swing on the porch, wearing a teal jacket. The sky is white, and the ground beneath the house is a pale yellowish-green color.

Eve

Billy Morrow Jackson

1967

Oil on hardboard  Accession ID  1970.15.1

On View: East Building Upper Level, Gallery E406

Loading Results