The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.
29 October, 2006 - 28 January, 2007.

Om udstillingen:
This exhibition expands definitions of the western landscape, often considered a subcategory of American art, by integrating it into the story of modernism. Western art is often considered to be traditional in both subject and style and unrelated to modernism, a movement rooted in the European avant-garde and, in the United States, centered in New York. Through approximately 110 paintings, watercolors, and photographs by artists including Frederic Remington, Gottardo Piazzoni, Georgia O´Keeffe, Edward Weston, Thomas Hart Benton, Ansel Adams, and Jackson Pollock, The Modern West will question this common perception. The exhibition also addresses the strong, mystical attraction the region holds, while providing a meaningful context for the West´s influence on American modernism and the essential role of artists in shaping our views of it. The Modern West extends the inquiry of western American art to the twentieth century. It differs from many previous studies by focusing primary attention on the formal qualities of the artworks and how those qualities, especially the redefinition of space, relate to broader cultural themes about western landscape, national identity, and modernism in the decades leading up to World War II.

Emily Ballew Neff
Curator American Painting and Sculpture
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Dates: November 1-19, July 5-August 12
Ph.D.: University of Texas at Austin
Project: The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950
Emily Ballew Neff is curator of American painting and sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. At the O'Keeffe Museum and Research Center, Neff will continue to develop, conduct research, and continue writing the catalogue for an exhibition project titled “The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950.” This exhibition will explore the role played by the West in the development of American modernism through 110 paintings, watercolors, photographs and, where thematically and aesthetically relevant, American Indian art.

The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, TX
Award: Outright; $0.00 Match; $250,000.00
Implementation of a traveling exhibition, catalog, and public and educational programs exploring the role of the art of the American west in the development of American modernism.

The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950
This is the first major exhibition to explore the role of the American West in American modernism. The exhibition will include 100 paintings, watercolors, photographs, and other medias that date from the 1890s to the 1950s. It will be held in the Audrey Jones Beck Building.

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