Early Abstract and Modernist Painting

Patrick Henry Bruce (1881–1936)

Peinture, 1917–18

Oil and graphite on canvas, 25 5/8 x 32 1/8 in. (65.1 x 81.6 cm). Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.21

The American expatriate Patrick Henry Bruce was a forerunner of abstract painting in the early twentieth century. Known for his streamlined still lifes, he explored the boundary between representation and abstraction. Peinture is considered one of the earliest in a series of tabletop arrangements of everyday items reduced to their most elemental forms. Geometric, sharply delineated shapes are set against four horizontal bands of black, turquoise, and lavender. While a straw and glass can be tentatively identified, other forms are mere fragments or generic volumes defined by colored shapes that appear to be simultaneously on top of the surface and to recede into the background. Peinture reflects the influence of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954), yet is unlike either artist’s work at that time. While hinting at Bruce’s longstanding attraction to still-life painting, this precisely geometric work also reflects his journey toward pure abstraction.

Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.

Early Abstract and Modernist Painting

Joseph Stella (1877–1946)

Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917

Max Weber (1881–1961)

Construction, 1915

Patrick Henry Bruce (1881–1936)

Peinture, 1917–18

Marsden Hartley (1877–1943)

Painting No. 50, 1914–15

Arthur Dove (1880–1946)

Nature Symbolized #3: Steeple and Trees, 1911–12

Arthur Dove (1880–1946)

Sails, 1911–12

Charles Demuth (1883–1935)

Welcome to Our City, 1921

Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1880–1953)

Boy with Cow, 1921

Stuart Davis (1892–1964)

Super Table, 1925

Helen Torr (1886–1967)

Purple and Green Leaves, 1927

Arthur Dove (1880–1946)

Boat Going through Inlet, c. 1929

John Graham (1881–1961)

The Green Chair, 1928

John Storrs (1885–1956)

Politics, 1931

Ernest Lawson (1873–1939)

Brooklyn Bridge, 1917–20

John Marin (1870–1953)

Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)

Red Amaryllis, 1937

Albert Eugene Gallatin (1881–1952)

Room Space, 1937–38

Milton Avery (1885–1965)

Adolescence, 1947

George Tooker (1920–2011)

Highway, 1953

Ed Paschke (1939–2004)

Topcat Boy, 1970

Beauford Delaney (1901–1979)

Untitled (Village Street Scene), 1948

Philip Evergood (1901–1973)

Passing Show, 1951

Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946)

Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986