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Early modernism

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

68 works · hang 9388 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

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. Dutton Lumber Yard, by Thomas Weeks Barrett, 1942
    Dutton Lumber YardThomas Weeks Barrett, 1942Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Peasant Girl, by Alice Pike Barney, 1900
    Peasant GirlAlice Pike Barney, 1900Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. 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

First room, south wall

  1. Still Life, by Preston Dickinson, c. 1924
    Still LifePreston Dickinson, c. 1924Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
    HillsideEdward Gay, 1908Courtesy 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

Second room, south wall

  1. Tradition, by Kenyon Cox, 1916
    TraditionKenyon Cox, 1916Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  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

Second 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. Calligraphic Interior, by H. Lyman Saÿen, ca. 1915
    Calligraphic InteriorH. Lyman Saÿen, ca. 1915Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. The Hills, by Preston Dickinson, ca. 1919
    The HillsPreston Dickinson, ca. 1919Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Third room, north wall

  1. Shown from the lap up, a person with peach-colored skin sits facing us as he looks down and to our left in this vertical, stylized, portrait painting. The person’s clothing and features are outlined with thin black lines, and areas are filled in with mottled, streaked color painted with visible strokes. The person has a round face with a double chin and a small red mouth. The eyes are painted as slate-blue slivers under thin brows, one of which is cocked. The man’s short black hair is parted to one side and combed across the top of his head. He wears a white cravat tied at his neck under a rust-red jacket or shirt. Two rounded, muted blue forms below suggest crossed knees. The man’s right elbow rests next to his body, and that hand is near his lap. The background is painted with pecan brown on the left third and gray-blue on the right two-thirds.
    Monsieur DeleuAmedeo Modigliani, 1916Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Wrestlers in a Circus, by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1909
    Wrestlers in a CircusErnst Ludwig Kirchner, 1909Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, south wall

  1. Pont des Arts, by H. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911
    Pont des ArtsH. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. 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