Floor plan

Style galleriesEarly modernism

Early modernism

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.
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.
Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
Tradition, by Kenyon Cox, 1916
Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night, by Charles Burchfield, December 1917
Pont des Arts, by H. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911

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. 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
  2. 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
  3. Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
    HillsideEdward Gay, 1908Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

First room, south wall

  1. Tradition, by Kenyon Cox, 1916
    TraditionKenyon Cox, 1916Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night, by Charles Burchfield, December 1917
    Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter NightCharles Burchfield, December 1917Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Pont des Arts, by H. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911
    Pont des ArtsH. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, south wall

  1. Church, Rancho de Taos, by Selden Connor Gile, 1931
    Church, Rancho de TaosSelden Connor Gile, 1931Courtesy 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. Mary, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914
    MaryHenry Ossawa Tanner, ca. 1914Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. A nude woman lying across a brown divan in front of a russet-red wall is loosely painted with areas of mottled color in this horizontal composition. The woman fills the wide canvas so her head is angled into the upper left corner, and her legs extend off the right edge of the composition below the knees. Her long, oval face rests back against the couch, and she looks at us with slitted, almond-shaped eyes under dark, shallowly arched brows. She has a long, straight nose, flushed cheeks, a double chin, and her pink lips are closed. Her breasts fall to each side so we only see the pink nipple closer to us. She has a rounded belly and a triangle of brown hair at her groin. Her arms rest alongside her body. The couch has a low, upholstered arms sweeping down the sides. Black lines in the red wall behind the couch suggest molding or cabinetry. The artist signed the painting in the upper right corner, “modigliani.”
    Nude on a DivanAmedeo Modigliani, 1918Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A Florida Park, by Joseph C. Claghorn, before 1935
    A Florida ParkJoseph C. Claghorn, before 1935Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Portrait of William E. Norton, by William Penhallow Henderson, 1901
    Portrait of William E. NortonWilliam Penhallow Henderson, 1901Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. Peasant Girl, by Alice Pike Barney, 1900
    Peasant GirlAlice Pike Barney, 1900Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Third room, north wall

  1. Study in Rhythm: Red and Gold, by Joseph Schillinger, ca. 1934
    Study in Rhythm: Red and GoldJoseph Schillinger, ca. 1934Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo, by Henri Rousseau, 1908
    Fight Between a Tiger and a BuffaloHenri Rousseau, 1908Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. On the Beach, No. 3, by Maurice Prendergast, c. 1915–18
    On the Beach, No. 3Maurice Prendergast, c. 1915–18Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art