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Learn MoreJuly 5, 2023 - May 31, 2025
In Stern Gallery
July 5, 2023 - May 31, 2025
In Stern Gallery
Drawn from the Allen’s permanent collection, this exhibition spotlights pivotal moments in figuration and abstraction in the 20th century. Spanning Europe, the U.S., Peru, Mexico, and China, this presentation contextualizes canonical figures in the history of modern art alongside those often overlooked.
The dark, brooding tone in some of these works stems from experiences of war, trauma, mental illness, racism, and sexism. Yet even the most fractured, disorienting compositions are punctuated with glimpses of light and resilience. The simultaneity of hope and despair, light and dark, advances and setbacks, is as central to this selection of works as it is to the sociopolitical forces that shaped modernity.
From Cubism to Abstract Expressionism, the Harlem Renaissance, and Feminist art making, the exhibition includes works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richmond Barthé, Louise Bourgeois, Amedeo Modigliani, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, José Clemente Orozco, Betty Parsons, Pablo Picasso, Horace Pippin, Miriam Schapiro, Fernando de Szyszlo, Bob Thompson, and Zao Wou-ki, among others.
Ellen Johnson ’33 Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
September 29, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.
Ruby Kopel (OC 2024) leads an informal discussion on José Clemente Orozco’s Mexican House. This event is part of our...
September 30, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.
Max Andrejco (OC 2025) leads an informal discussion on Miriam Schapiro’s The Secret Garden. This event is part of our Objec...
October 27, 2023 at 3:45 p.m.
Ava Chessum (OC 2024) leads an informal discussion on a Betty Parsons's Untitled. This event is part of our Object Talk series, d...
November 3, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
Stella Gregovich (OC 2025) leads an informal discussion on Arshile Gorky's The Plough and the Song. This event is part of our Obj...
December 9, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
Stella Gregovich (OC 2025) leads an informal discussion on Bob Thompson's Winter or the Flood. This event is part of our Object T...
April 19, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
Leander Chow (OC 2024) leads an informal discussion on Käthe Kollwitz's Selbstbildnis (Self Portrait). This event is part of...
May 4, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
Joaquim Timoner (OC 2025) leads an informal discussion on Magdalena Abakanowicz's Magos. This event is part of our Object Talk se...
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