Floor plan

Style galleriesEarly modernism

Early modernism

The Hills, by Preston Dickinson, ca. 1919
Admiral Sir David Beatty, Lord Beatty, by Cecilia Beaux, ca. 1920
Dark twilight scene of a a brightly illuminated white cottage along the shore of an expansive body of water, seen through a thick of silhouetted trees.
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.”
Golden Star (Chrysogonum virginianum), by Mary Vaux Walcott, 1922
Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908

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. The Hills, by Preston Dickinson, ca. 1919
    The HillsPreston Dickinson, ca. 1919Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Admiral Sir David Beatty, Lord Beatty, by Cecilia Beaux, ca. 1920
    Admiral Sir David Beatty, Lord BeattyCecilia Beaux, ca. 1920Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Dark twilight scene of a a brightly illuminated white cottage along the shore of an expansive body of water, seen through a thick of silhouetted trees.
    Fisherman's CottageHarald Oscar Sohlberg, 1906Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. 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
  2. Golden Star (Chrysogonum virginianum), by Mary Vaux Walcott, 1922
    Golden Star (Chrysogonum virginianum)Mary Vaux Walcott, 1922Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
    HillsideEdward Gay, 1908Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, south wall

  1. In the Desert, by H. Siddons Mowbray, 1915-1925
    In the DesertH. Siddons Mowbray, 1915-1925Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Peasant Girl, by Alice Pike Barney, 1900
    Peasant GirlAlice Pike Barney, 1900Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Vibrantly colored geometric painting of a central white and blue waterfall with birds visible through it. A stylized red jungle cat and black wild boar drink at bottom right. Red water wheel at left, angular blue and white cityscape top at left, tree top at right.
    The Bewitched MillFranz Marc, 1913Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. Vibrant yellow, red, blue, and green painting of landscape with trees and mountains.
    Landscape with Two PoplarsVasily Kandinsky, 1912Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. My Day at Home, by William H. Howe, 1906
    My Day at HomeWilliam H. Howe, 1906Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Third 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. 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. Alfred Henry Maurer
    Woman in BlackAlfred Henry Maurer, (c. 1904)Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

Third room, south wall

  1. The image shows a landscape drawing with buildings, trees, and a winding path or water feature. The drawing is done in black charcoal on brownish background paper, creating a monochromatic color palette.
    Footpaths and Pavilion in the Dresden Grosser GartenErnst Ludwig Kirchner, c. 1909Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The River, by Maxime Maufra, 1902
    The RiverMaxime Maufra, 1902Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art