At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism
Opens May 7, 2022
At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism showcases art produced between 1900 and 1930 by well-known American modernists and their now largely forgotten, but equally groundbreaking peers. Drawn primarily from the Whitney’s permanent collection, it provides new perspectives on the myriad ways American artists used nonrepresentational styles developed in Europe to express their subjective responses to the realities of the modern age.
America’s early modernists came of age during a time when the country’s predominant mood was one of youthful confidence. Racial violence and social and economic injustices existed, but so too did insurgency and social reform. American technological and engineering ingenuity had made the country the world’s largest industrial power at the same time that political Progressivism and cultural shifts such as women’s suffrage had upended bourgeois codes of respectability. The combination gave rise to an excitement about an era that critic Walter Lippmann characterized as “bursting with new ideas, new plans, and new hopes.”
Against this backdrop, large numbers of American artists embraced the new over the traditional and fixed by rejecting realistic depictions of the world in favor of art that prioritized emotional experience and harmonious design. The results were largely ignored by the Whitney Museum, whose loyalty was to the urban realists who formed the core of the Whitney Studio Club, out of which the Museum had grown. A handful of non-representational works were acquired when the museum was founded in 1930 and more were added in subsequent decades, but it was not until the mid-1970s that the museum vigorously began to acquire vanguard art made between 1900 and 1930. While extensive, these acquisitions largely excluded work by women and artists of color. The Whitney had already begun rectifying these biases, but in anticipation of the opening of At the Dawn, it added more works by these artists to the collection. The result is an exhibition that recasts the story of American art by celebrating the mood of optimistic excitement with which American artists embraced modern styles and illuminates the complexity and diversity that are at the heart of the American experience.
This exhibition is organized by Barbara Haskell, Curator.
Generous support for At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism is provided by the Barbara Haskell American Fellows Legacy Fund.
Significant support is provided by Amy and David Abrams; Laurie M. Tisch; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Additional support is provided by Alturas Foundation, Cheryl and Blair Effron, Bernard Goldberg, the Judy and Stanley Katz Family Foundation, Michele Mirman, Garrett Moran and Mary Penniman Moran, Ted and Mary Jo Shen, Marica and Jan Vilcek, and Robin and Marc Wolpow.
Marsden Hartley
18
Born 1877 in Lewiston, ME
Died 1943 in Ellsworth, ME
Marsden Hartley traveled to Europe in 1912 and settled in Paris, where he quickly assimilated the fractured forms of Cubism and the vivid colors of Fauvism. A year later, he relocated to Berlin, where he became enthralled with the city’s crowds, gay subculture, and military pageantry. Shortly after World War I broke out, Karl von Freyburg, a German officer in the Royal Guards with whom Hartley was in love, was killed. Devastated by this loss, Hartley juxtaposed images he associated with Freyburg, including German imperial flags, military emblems, fragments of the Royal Guards’ uniforms, and a chessboard, to create abstract portraits of him. By the time Hartley completed Painting, Number 5, the series had become as much of an abstract evocation of the German military and the tragic cost of war as a specific memorial to Freyburg.
Events
View all-
Sun,
Dec 4Weekend Member Mornings
9:30–10:30 am
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Thurs,
Sept 29Curator-Led Tour:
At the Dawn of a New Age7:15 pm
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Mon,
Aug 29Radical Enchantment: The Politics of Transcendental American Art, 1900–2022
6–7 pm
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Tues,
Aug 9Radical Enchantment: The Politics of Transcendental American Art, 1900–2022
12–1 pm
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Thurs,
July 21Radical Enchantment: The Politics of Transcendental American Art, 1900–2022
6–7 pm
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Fri,
July 15Open Studio for Teens:
At the Dawn of a New Age1–3 pm
Audio guides
Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from the exhibition.
View guide
Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection
View 86 works
In the News
"We gain insight into the trailblazing careers of artists such as Henrietta Shore, Charles Duncan, Yun Gee, Manierre Dawson, Blanche Lazzell, Ben Benn, Isami Doi, and Albert Bloch, who have been left out of the leading narrative."—Forbes
"…una exposición que reformula la historia del arte estadounidense al recordar y celebrar el entusiasmo con el que los artistas de aquella época indagaron y adoptaron estilos modernos."—National Geographic Español
"…the show is a riot of colors, moods and styles, giving a sense of the heady experimentation at work as artists hewed out a distinctively American modernism."—The Guardian
"…Pamela Colman Smith has been included in a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York highlighting many underappreciated artists of early 20th-century American modernism in addition to famous names like Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson."—CNN Style
"You are there, immersed in peaks and valleys of an effervescent day and age."—New Yorker
"…this show looks at some of the artistic roots of the contemporary moment through more than 60 works made from 1900 to 1930."—New York Times
-…the exhibition is an opportunity to reassess and expand not only the Whitney’s collection but its take on a pivotal era of American art."—Wall Street Journal
"Dominating the show as we round out our tour is the realization of the innovative spirit and ingenuity that pervaded America."—Art & Antiques Magazine