Pre-War Pageant (1913), Marsden Hartley (1877-1943)
End of the Parade, Coatsville, Pa. (1920), Charles Demuth (1883-1935)The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has a very intimate and inspiring exhibition of 20 works in the genre of American Modernism from the collection of Deborah and Ed Shein on display in its East Wing through January 2, 2011. Included are nearly all of the turn of the century movers and shakers in the art world and the works are not one-offs by any means. The Hartley from his Pre-War series (which included his iconic homage to his unrequited love Karl von Freyburg), a sensual O'Keeffe of an uvula-esque interior of a black iris called "Dark Iris", and a nearly luminous work by Italian immigrant, Joseph Stella entitled, "A Child's Prayer" are all stand alone master works. If an innocent asked about American Modernism, one could not do better than to tour this collection with them. Gratitude in abundance to the Sheins for sharing it so generous with me.
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