Floor plan

Style galleriesEarly modernism

Early modernism

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Wase, by George Bellows, 1924
A Florida Park, by Joseph C. Claghorn, before 1935
Child Reading, by H. Lyman Saÿen, 1915-1918
Artist: Philip Alexius de László, Sitter: Clara Margaret Cook Kellogg, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
In the Generalife, by John Singer Sargent, 1912
This print depicts a grayscale desert landscape with a prominent saguaro cactus to the left. In the background, rocky mountains are visible in the darkness. The sky shows a crescent moon and a bright star through an opening in the soft gray clouds. Sparse desert vegetation is faintly visible on the ground, and more cacti can be seen in the distance.
Mary, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914

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. Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Wase, by George Bellows, 1924
    Mr. and Mrs. Phillip WaseGeorge Bellows, 1924Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. A Florida Park, by Joseph C. Claghorn, before 1935
    A Florida ParkJoseph C. Claghorn, before 1935Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Child Reading, by H. Lyman Saÿen, 1915-1918
    Child ReadingH. Lyman Saÿen, 1915-1918Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

First room, south wall

  1. Artist: Philip Alexius de László, Sitter: Clara Margaret Cook Kellogg, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    Clara Cook KelloggPhilip Alexius de László, 1929Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  2. In the Generalife, by John Singer Sargent, 1912
    In the GeneralifeJohn Singer Sargent, 1912Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. This print depicts a grayscale desert landscape with a prominent saguaro cactus to the left. In the background, rocky mountains are visible in the darkness. The sky shows a crescent moon and a bright star through an opening in the soft gray clouds. Sparse desert vegetation is faintly visible on the ground, and more cacti can be seen in the distance.
    New Moon and Evening StarGeorge Elbert Burr, c. 1932Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Mary, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914
    MaryHenry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, south wall

  1. Portrait of William E. Norton, by William Penhallow Henderson, 1901
    Portrait of William E. NortonWilliam Penhallow Henderson, 1901Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Shown from the lap up, a pale-skinned woman with an oval face and long neck sits facing us in this vertical painting. The portrait is created with areas of mottled colors outlined with black lines. Her body faces us, and she looks out with pale blue eyes, the irises almost white. Her thin eyebrows slope down the sides and her small, dark peach lips are closed. Golden-orange hair is piled atop her head and a few bangs fall onto her high forehead. Black oval earrings hang from her lobes. Her shoulders also slope unnaturally down. Her mint-green shirt has a scooped neckline and elbow-length sleeves, and it appears to be tucked into a brown skirt or pants. The background is honey orange in the top left quadrant, amber brown in the lower left, and a russet brown door with windows across the top fills the right half. The artist signed the top right corner, “modigliani.”
    Girl in a Green BlouseAmedeo Modigliani, 1917Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. THE TRIUMPH OF UNCLE SAM
    The Triumph of Uncle SamVictor Wilbour, 1917Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. Sketch for Mosaic, Wisconsin State Capital, "Justice", by Kenyon Cox, ca. 1912
    Sketch for Mosaic, Wisconsin State Capital, "Justice"Kenyon Cox, ca. 1912Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. Two Gulls and Cliffs, by Louis M. Eilshemius, ca. 1913-1921
    Two Gulls and CliffsLouis M. Eilshemius, ca. 1913-1921Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Still Life, by Preston Dickinson, c. 1924
    Still LifePreston Dickinson, c. 1924Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Church, Rancho de Taos, by Selden Connor Gile, 1931
    Church, Rancho de TaosSelden Connor Gile, 1931Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Third room, north wall

  1. Mountain Landscape with Fir Trees, by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1918/19
    Mountain Landscape with Fir TreesErnst Ludwig Kirchner, 1918/19Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
    HillsideEdward Gay, 1908Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum