Man Ray, La Fortune, 1938. Oil on linen, 23 11/16 × 28 13/16 in. (60.2 × 73.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Simon Foundation, Inc. 72.129 © 2015 Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris
Real/Surreal
Oct 6, 2011–Feb 12, 2012
This exhibition, drawn entirely from the deep holdings of the Whitney Museum’s permanent collection, will focus on the tension and overlap between two strong currents in twentieth century art. Although the term “realism” has many facets, a basic connection to the observable world underlies all of them; the subversion of reality through the imagination and the subconscious lies at the heart of Surrealism. Yet there are convergences in these different and even oppositional approaches to experience, and they encourage new ways of looking at the art of the twenties, thirties, and forties in America. For example, Edward Hopper, famous for chronicling New York urban life, is also a painter whose own subjectivity and imagination are integral to his work. Many artists who developed imagery based on new and very specific, concrete conditions of industrial American, such as Charles Sheeler, were essentially interested in artificial worlds and presented these as distillations of reality. Even totally abstract painters such as Yves Tanguy depended on techniques developed from traditional, realist art to render bizarre worlds. By willfully distorting such techniques, Helen Lundeberg and Mabel Dwight could quietly undercut our sense of stability even while showing us recognizable and even mundane objects and settings. Understanding surrealism as above and beyond the real necessarily ties it to representation and reality, just as realist painting can be imaginative and bizarre without breaking with rational observation. The exhibition will feature sixty-five works in painting, drawing, photography, and printmaking juxtaposed in ways that elucidate how artists developed qualified degrees of reality where the imagination held more or less sway, depending on intention and influence.
Real/Surreal is the second in a multiyear series of exhibitions aimed at reassessing the museum’s collection in anticipation of its move to its new building downtown. Unfolding in chronological order over a two year period, these exhibitions will explore overlooked developments in American art and reconsider iconic figures and masterworks within new frameworks and contexts.
Real/Surreal is organized by Whitney curator Carter Foster.
Ongoing support for the permanent collection and major support for Real/Surreal is provided by Bank of America.
Additional support for Real/Surreal is provided by the Selz Foundation.
Artworks
Federico Castellón (1914–1971), The Dark Figure, 1938. Oil on canvas, 17 × 26 1/8 in. (43.18 × 66.36 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 42.3. Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Marsden Hartley (1877–1943), The Old Bars, Dogtown, 1936. Oil on composition board, 18 × 24 in. (45.72 x 60.96 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 37.26. Photograph by Geoffrey Clements
Paul Cadmus, Fantasia on a Theme by Dr. S., 1946. Egg tempera on composition board, 13 × 13 in. (33.02 x 33.02 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 47.1. © Jon F. Anderson, Estate of Paul Cadmus /VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Philip Evergood (1901–1973), Lily and the Sparrows, 1939. Oil on composition board, 30 × 24 in. (76.2 x 60.96 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 41.42. Photograph by Sheldan Collins
George Tooker, The Subway, 1950. Egg tempera on composition board, 18 1/8 × 36 1/8 in. (46 × 91.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Juliana Force Purchase Award 50.23. © George Tooker
Ralston Crawford, Steel Foundry, Coatesville, Pa., 1936–37. Oil on canvas, 32 × 40 in. (81.3 × 101.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 37.10
Jared French, State Park, 1946. Tempera on composition board, 24 7/16 x 24 1/2 in. (62.1 x 62.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Donnelley Erdman 65.78
Louis Guglielmi (1906–1956), Terror in Brooklyn, 1941. Oil on canvas mounted on composition board, 34 × 30 in. (86.4 × 76.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 42.5
George C. Ault, Hudson Street, 1932. Oil on canvas, 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 33.40
Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930. Oil on canvas, 35 3/16 × 60 1/4 in. (89.4 × 153 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 31.426. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Seven A.M., 1948. Oil on canvas, 30 3/16 × 40 1/8 in. (76.7 × 101.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase and exchange 50.8. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Joe Jones (1909–1963), American Farm, 1936. Oil and tempera on canvas, 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 36.144. © Estate of Joe Jones
Rockwell Kent, The Trapper, 1921. Oil on canvas, 33 1/4 × 42 7/8 in. (84.5 × 108.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 31.258
Kay Sage (1898–1963), No Passing, 1954. Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 × 38 in. (130.2 × 96.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 55.10
Charles Sheeler, River Rouge Plant, 1932. Oil and pencil on canvas, 20 3/8 × 24 5/16in. (51.8 × 61.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art; purchase 32.43
Yves Tanguy (1900–1955), The Wish, 1949. Oil on canvas, 36 × 28 in. (91.4 × 71.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kay Sage Tanguy Bequest 63.46. © 2009 Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Artists
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Installation Photography
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of Real/Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 6, 2011–February 5, 2012). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
In the News
"Seeing “Real/Surreal" ... is like visiting your grandmother’s attic and finding it loaded with forgotten treasures."
—The New York Times
Real/Surreal is named one of the best exhibitions of the fall season.
—Time Out New York