Installation view of exhibition.
Past exhibition

Exhibition: It Was a New Century: Reflections on Modern America

It Was a New Century: Reflections on Modern America; captures the vitality and spirit of urban life at the beginning of the 20th century. Drawn from a private collection, the nearly 60 paintings, prints, watercolors, and drawings on view illustrate the major artistic directions of the day—both progressive and nostalgic—by well-known artists such as George Bellows, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Walt Kuhn, Maurice Prendergast, and Everett Shinn. They also depict a wide range of popular themes, from the gritty to the glamorous: busy street scenes in working-class neighborhoods; boxers doing battle in private clubs; patriotic flags lining New York’s Fifth Avenue; performers donning costumes and face paint; and sunny retreats for the wealthy, from Shinnecock, Long Island, to Venice. Taken together, these exceptional works present a compelling panorama of a new, modern America.

Childe Hassam, Avenue of the Allies, 1918. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Jerome Myers, Peddlers, Lower East Side, 1905. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Everett Shinn, Parisian Dancer, 1921. Pastel on board. Private collection

Views of the Exhibition

Exhibition organized by Mark D. Mitchell, the Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture. Made possible by the Art Gallery Exhibition and Publication Fund and the Friends of American Arts at Yale Exhibition Fund.