Davenport, Iowa (June 17, 2015) - The Figge Art Museum will welcome a new traveling exhibition to the third and fourth floor galleries beginning Saturday. American Moderns on Paper: Materworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art will provide a front row seat to the development of American art during perhaps its most dynamic period (the early 20th century) through a priceless collection of personal and spontaneous works?those done on paper.
The exhibition features 87 works by 44 artists, created between 1902 and 1962, and ranging in style from the urban realism of John Sloan to the pioneering abstractions of Arthur Dove. Signature works by American masters such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hopper, as well as works by lesser-known, but influential artists such as Peggy Bacon and William Baziotes will be on view.
During the period in which these works were created the United States and New York City in particular became the world center of innovation in the visual arts. Many artists in the exhibition emigrated from Europe, while others were Americans who made frequent trips to travel and study in Paris and other European capitals, absorbing the influences of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and other modernists.
The artists in American Moderns on Paper responded in different ways to the influence of the Europeans and to the dynamic changes of the 20th century. John Marin, for instance, incorporated Cubist elements into his cityscapes to express the energy of New York's bridges and skyscrapers. Works by Charles Burchfield, Ellsworth Kelly and others continue the great tradition of landscape in American art, giving it a modern vocabulary.
American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is presented with the generous support of the Riverboat Development Authority in celebration of the Figge's 10th anniversary, with additional support from Genesis Health System and Per Mar Security Services and will be on view June 20-September 20, 2015.
