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American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe

Dec 22, 2012– 

Stuart Davis (1894–1964), Owh! in San Paõ, 1951. Oil on canvas, 52 1/4 × 41 3/4 in. (132.7 × 106 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase  52.2. © Estate of Stuart Davis / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Joseph Stella (1877–1946), The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme, 1939. Oil on canvas, 70 × 42 in. (177.8 × 106.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase  42.15

American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe showcases the Whitney’s deep holdings of artwork from the first half of the twentieth century by the eighteen leading artists: Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, Paul Cadmus, Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell, Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Elie Nadelman, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joseph Stella. Organized as one- and two-artist presentations, this exhibition provides a survey of each artist’s work across a range of mediums.

On view now:
As part of this rotating exhibition, works by these artists are currently on view at the Museum: Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell, Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Jacob Lawrence, Elie Nadelman, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joseph Stella.

American Legends is organized by Barbara Haskell, Curator.

Works from the exhibition

Oscar Bluemner, Last Evening of the Year, c. 1929. Oil on academy board mounted on wood panel, 13 3/4 × 9 3/4 in. (34.9 × 24.8 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Juliana Force  31.115  
Oscar Bluemner, A Situation in Yellow, 1933. Oil on canvas, 36 × 50 1/2 in. (91.4 × 128.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Nancy and Harry L. Koenigsberg  67.66  
Charles Burchfield, Ice Glare, 1933. Watercolor, charcoal, and graphite on paper, 31 1/2 × 25 in.        
(80 × 63.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase  33.64
Charles Burchfield, Night Scene, 1935. Transparent and opaque watercolor, pastel, and charcoal on paper, 16 7/8 × 26 7/8 in. (42.9 × 68.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Charles Simon  77.117
Charles Burchfield, An April Mood, 1946–55. Watercolor and charcoal on joined paper, 40 × 54 in. (101.6 x  137.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with partial funds from Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleischman  55.39
Paul Cadmus, To the Lynching!, 1935. Graphite and watercolor on paper, 23 1/2 × 18 in. (59.7 × 45.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase  36.32
Paul Cadmus, Sailors and Floosies, 1938. Oil and tempera on panel, 33 1/2 × 48 3/8 in. (85.1 × 122.9 cm) framed. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Malcolm S. Forbes  64.42a-b
Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, 1926–31. Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps, 54 × 94 1/4 × 94 1/4 in. (137.2 × 239.4 × 239.4 cm) overall, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from a public fundraising campaign in May 1982. One half the funds were contributed by the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. Additional major donations were given by The Lauder Foundation, the Robert Lehman Foundation Inc., the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation Inc., an anonymous donor, The T. M. Evans Foundation Inc., MacAndrews & Forbes Group Incorporated, the DeWitt Wallace Fund Inc., Martin and Agneta Gruss, Anne Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Laurance S. Rockefeller, the Simon Foundation Inc., Marylou Whitney, Bankers Trust Company, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. Dayton, Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz, Irvin and Kenneth Feld, Flora Whitney Miller. More than 500 individuals from 26 states and abroad also contributed to the campaign  83.36.1-95  
Alexander Calder, Varèse, c. 1930. Wire, 13 3/4 × 11 5/8 × 14 1/2 in. (34.9 × 29.5 × 36.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 50th Anniversary Gift of Mrs. Louise Varèse in honor of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney  80.25  
Alexander Calder, Object with Red Discs, 1931. Painted steel rod, wire, wood, and sheet aluminum, 88 1/2 × 33 × 47 1/2 in. (224.8 × 83.8 × 120.7 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Mrs. Percy Uris Purchase Fund  86.49a-c  
Alexander Calder, Juggler with Dog, 1931. Pen and ink on paper, 22 3/4 × 30 13/16 in. (57.8 × 78.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Howard and Jean Lipman  81.23.2  
Alexander Calder, Wooden Bottle with Hairs, 1943. Wood and wire, 22 3/8 × 13 × 12 in. (56.8 × 33 × 30.5 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 50th Anniversary Gift of the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc.  80.28.2a-l  
View more 12 displayed of 39

Installation Photography

Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 22, 2012–December 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins

In the News

“The Whitney Museum is New York’s go-to institution for the crazy-quilt history of early- and mid-20th-century American art, and its new permanent-collection display, American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe, is one of its best in years.” 
The New York Times

“Ranging from Edward Hopper’s melancholia to the sensuous work of Georgia O’Keeffe, the exhibition offers an extraordinarily wide view of 20th-century American art before Abstract Expressionism.”
Bloomberg Businessweek