At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism

May 7, 2022–Feb 26, 2023

All

1 / 22

Previous Next

Ben Benn

1

Born 1884 in Kamenets-Podolsky, Russia
Died 1983 in New York, NY

Born in Ukraine, Benjamin Rosenberg immigrated with his family to New York at the age of fifteen and changed his name to Ben Benn. A visit to the American Museum of National History in 1902 inspired him to become an artist. After training at the conservative National Academy of Design, he converted to modern art after seeing the 1913 Armory show. His successful assimilation of Cubism and Fauvism was confirmed by his inclusion in the 1916 Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters, an ambitious survey of work by America’s foremost modernists (many of whom are featured in this exhibition). In the 1920s, the shallow space and flattened geometric forms of Benn’s modernist work gave way to calligraphic, gestural flourishes and a sensuous application of paint that recalled the work of El Greco, whose art had deeply impressed him. What remained constant during his sixty-year career was his commitment to painting the world around him. “One must start with the facts,” he once said. His painterly joy and vigor earned him a prominent place in the art world, with retrospective exhibitions at the Jewish Museum, the Walker Art Center, and the Hirshhorn Museum.

Cowboy and Horse, 1917

A painting featuring abstract and cubist elements with a central figure wearing a bowler hat obscured by colorful shapes and lines. The background consists of blocks of color, and the date "1917" with the signature "Benn" is visible in the bottom right corner.
A painting featuring abstract and cubist elements with a central figure wearing a bowler hat obscured by colorful shapes and lines. The background consists of blocks of color, and the date "1917" with the signature "Benn" is visible in the bottom right corner.

Ben Benn, Cowboy and Horse, 1917. Oil on canvas, overall: 27 1/4 × 22 1/8 in. (69.2 × 56.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the artist 70.51

Artists

Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection

View 86 works

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.