Floor plan

Style galleriesEarly modernism

Early modernism

Self-Portrait, by Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1920
Portrait of William E. Norton, by William Penhallow Henderson, 1901
A work made of oil on canvas.
Artist: Marion H. Beckett, Sitter: Theresa Helburn, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Wase, by George Bellows, 1924
A Florida Park, by Joseph C. Claghorn, before 1935

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

The first decades of the twentieth century, when artists broke with the academy.

First room, north wall

  1. Self-Portrait, by Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1920
    Self-PortraitAbbott Handerson Thayer, 1920Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of William E. Norton, by William Penhallow Henderson, 1901
    Portrait of William E. NortonWilliam Penhallow Henderson, 1901Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Farm near DuivendrechtPiet Mondrian, c. 1916Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. Artist: Marion H. Beckett, Sitter: Theresa Helburn, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    Theresa HelburnMarion H. Beckett, 1922Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Wase, by George Bellows, 1924
    Mr. and Mrs. Phillip WaseGeorge Bellows, 1924Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. A Florida Park, by Joseph C. Claghorn, before 1935
    A Florida ParkJoseph C. Claghorn, before 1935Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, south wall

  1. Mary, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914
    MaryHenry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Wrestlers in a Circus, by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1909
    Wrestlers in a CircusErnst Ludwig Kirchner, 1909Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Head of a Young Girl, by Lucia Fairchild Fuller, ca. 1900
    Head of a Young GirlLucia Fairchild Fuller, ca. 1900Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. Dutton Lumber Yard, by Thomas Weeks Barrett, 1942
    Dutton Lumber YardThomas Weeks Barrett, 1942Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. A square white tile, rotated 90 degrees, crossed by black lines intersecting at 90-degree angles. A few of the shapes thus formed—some partial squares, some rectangles—are colored in a single shade of yellow, blue, black, or red.
    Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and GrayPiet Mondrian, 1921Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Sprout Lot, by J. Francis Murphy, 1915
    The Sprout LotJ. Francis Murphy, 1915Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. In the Desert, by H. Siddons Mowbray, 1915-1925
    In the DesertH. Siddons Mowbray, 1915-1925Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Third room, north wall

  1. The Repast of the Lion, by Henri Rousseau, ca. 1907
    The Repast of the LionHenri Rousseau, ca. 1907Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Shown from the knees up, a woman sits partially covered by a black cloth as she holds one forearm across her bare breasts in this vertical painting. The woman has pale, yellow-tinged skin and long, copper-red hair and bangs. Her body faces us, but she turns her head to look off to our right with large blue, wide-set eyes. Her cheeks are flushed, and her full, dark pink lips are closed. A strand of gradually larger amber-yellow beads hangs around her neck, and she wears a gold-colored bracelet on the arm braced across her chest, her left arm, to our right. Glimpses of pale pink nipples are visible. The voluminous black cloth drapes down over one shoulder and across her hips. She wears a ring on the other hand, which emerges from the cloth to rest on that knee. Piles of garnet red, peridot green, and forest green are piled up to chest height behind her, and the background is nickel gray around her body and darkens to black around the top and side edges. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the fabric and background. The artist signed the canvas in the lower left corner, “Geo. Bellows E.S.B.”
    Nude with Red HairGeorge Bellows, 1920Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. My Day at Home, by William H. Howe, 1906
    My Day at HomeWilliam H. Howe, 1906Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum