Modern Art, 1865-1965 April 19, 2008

The hundred years from 1865 to 1965 marked the heyday of modern painting and sculpture in Europe and the United States. Conventions were overthrown as artists drew increasing inspiration from their materials while questioning how (and often whether) to depict the visible world. Complementing the adjacent impressionist and postimpressionist Maurice Wertheim Collection, major but lesser-known works from the permanent collection chart this period in two galleries. Jean Frederic Bazille's subversive masterpiece 'Summer Scene' (1869) forms the keynote for developments in painting through the later 19th century into cubism and abstraction, while a confrontation between Rodin's 'Walking Man' (1899-1900) and Matisse's 'Serf' (1900-1903) sets the stage for later sculptures by Jacques Lipchitz, Constantin Brancusi and Henry Moore. Of special note is the return to the galleries after several years of Joan Miro's work, from early paintings like 'The Bottle' and the Pepper' to monumental late abstractions.