The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890–1950

March 4, 2007–June 3, 2007 | Hammer Building

In the first major exhibition to explore the role of the American West in the development of modernism in the United States—a movement traditionally associated with the East Coast—the works of some of the most influential artists of the last century and a half will be highlighted. Together, pieces from Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Jackson Pollock, and others challenge the notion that the art of the West is unrelated to modernism in the United States and demonstrate that the vast, rugged land of the West, in fact, left an indelible mark on modernism. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Modern West features approximately one hundred paintings, watercolors, and photographs that collectively redefine commonly held perceptions of modernism as well as western art.

Curator: Emily Ballew Neff, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Curator at LACMA: Austen Bailly, American Art.

This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Generous funding was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Los Angeles presentation was made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

In-kind support for the Los Angeles presentation was made possible by official hotel sponsor Millennium Biltmore as part of the Millennium on View program.

Artwork above:
John Henry Twachtman, United States, 1853–1902, Emerald Pool, Yellowstone, c. 1895, oil on canvas, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT., bequest of George A. Gay, by exchange, and The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund.

On homepage:
Grant Wood, United States, 1891–1942, Spring Turning, 1936 (detail), oil on masonite panel, Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, © Estate of Grant Wood, licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

ONLINE

Q&A with Austen Bailly

Exhibition Extra

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Searchers, Misfits, and Left-Handed Guns: Reinventing the Myth of the American West
April 13–May 12

Landscape Matters: The Modern West
March 3

Conversations with Artists: Ken Gonzalez-Day
March 15

Music of Aaron Copland and Dave Grusin
March 19

The Director's Series: Conversations with Michael Govan—Diana Thater
April 12

Native Modern: American Indian Painting
April 15