Floor plan

Style galleriesEarly modernism

Early modernism

Alfred Henry Maurer
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.
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.
Hooded Warblers, study for book Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, by Gladys Thayer, ca. 1900-1909
Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
Still Life, by Preston Dickinson, c. 1924
Mountain Landscape with Fir Trees, by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1918/19

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. Alfred Henry Maurer
    Woman in BlackAlfred Henry Maurer, (c. 1904)Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Hooded Warblers, study for book Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, by Gladys Thayer, ca. 1900-1909
    Hooded Warblers, study for book Concealing Coloration in the Animal KingdomGladys Thayer, ca. 1900-1909Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

First room, south wall

  1. Hillside, by Edward Gay, 1908
    HillsideEdward Gay, 1908Courtesy 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. 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

Second room, south 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. 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, north wall

  1. 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
  2. The Hills, by Preston Dickinson, ca. 1919
    The HillsPreston Dickinson, ca. 1919Courtesy 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

Third room, north 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. The Hill Field, by Arthur Wesley Dow, 1908-1910
    The Hill FieldArthur Wesley Dow, 1908-1910Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Wase, by George Bellows, 1924
    Mr. and Mrs. Phillip WaseGeorge Bellows, 1924Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum