Early Abstract and Modernist Painting
John Marin
(1870–1953)
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Oil on canvas board,
14 x 17 3/4 in. (35.6 x 45.1 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund,
2006.1
Object-John Marin, Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline
One of America’s most popular modernists, John Marin fashioned a personal vocabulary for expressing the vitality of urban landscapes in both oils and watercolors. Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline presents the city as an assemblage of colors and shapes that suggest the energy of the metropolis. His reduction of familiar forms to their essential lines and planes indicates an indebtedness to cubism that is personalized by his use of bright colors and dynamic brushwork. Trained as an architect, Marin frequently used devices within his compositions to frame or enclose forms. The image presents a series of frames-within-the-frame: the black outlines around the forms of the bridge, tugboat, and sailboat contain and control the explosive energy of the artist’s lines and brushwork. To distinguish this work as an oil painting (rather than a watercolor), Marin applied a thin black wash to the simple wood molding of the frame and added elongated dabs of white at regular intervals.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
John Marin
(1870–1953)
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Oil on canvas board,
14 x 17 3/4 in. (35.6 x 45.1 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund,
2006.1
Early Abstract and Modernist Painting
Joseph Stella
(1877–1946)
Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917
Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917
Oil on canvas,
36 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (92.1 x 76.8 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1999.139
Max Weber
(1881–1961)
Construction, 1915
Construction, 1915
Oil on canvas,
22 7/8 x 27 7/8 in. (58.1 x 70.8 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1987.31
Patrick Henry Bruce
(1881–1936)
Peinture, 1917–18
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
Marsden Hartley
(1877–1943)
Painting No. 50, 1914–15
Painting No. 50, 1914–15
Oil on canvas,
47 x 47 in. (119.4 x 119.4 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1999.61
Arthur Dove
(1880–1946)
Nature Symbolized #3: Steeple and Trees, 1911–12
Nature Symbolized #3: Steeple and Trees, 1911–12
Pastel on board mounted on wood panel,
18 x 21 1/2 in. (45.7 x 54.6 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image courtesy: The Estate of Arthur G. Dove/Terry Dintenfass, Inc.,
1992.33
Arthur Dove
(1880–1946)
Sails, 1911–12
Sails, 1911–12
Pastel on composition board mounted on wood panel,
17 7/8 x 21 1/2 in. (45.4 x 54.6 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image courtesy: The Estate of Arthur G. Dove/Terry Dintenfass, Inc.,
1993.10
Charles Demuth
(1883–1935)
Welcome to Our City, 1921
Welcome to Our City, 1921
Oil on canvas,
25 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (63.8 x 51.1 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1993.3
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
(1880–1953)
Boy with Cow, 1921
Boy with Cow, 1921
Oil on canvas,
16 1/8 × 20 in. (41 × 50.8 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund. Image © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.,
2017.1
Stuart Davis
(1892–1964)
Super Table, 1925
Super Table, 1925
Oil on canvas,
48 x 34 1/8 in. (122.2 x 86.7 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image © Estate of Stuart Davis/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.,
1999.37
Helen Torr
(1886–1967)
Purple and Green Leaves, 1927
Purple and Green Leaves, 1927
Oil on copper mounted on board,
20 1/4 x 15 1/4 in. (51.4 x 38.7 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1999.142
Arthur Dove
(1880–1946)
Boat Going through Inlet, c. 1929
Boat Going through Inlet, c. 1929
Oil on tin,
20 1/8 × 28 1/4 in. (51.1 × 71.8 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund. Image courtesy: The Estate of Arthur G. Dove/Terry Dintenfass, Inc.,
2015.6
John Graham
(1881–1961)
The Green Chair, 1928
The Green Chair, 1928
Oil on canvas,
39 1/2 × 28 7/8 in. (100.3 × 73.3 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1999.60
John Storrs
(1885–1956)
Politics, 1931
Politics, 1931
Oil on canvas,
40 x 40 in. (101.6 x 101.6 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund,
2008.1
John Marin
(1870–1953)
Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge, 1930
Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge, 1930
Watercolor on paper,
21 3/4 x 26 3/4 in. (55.2 x 67.9 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image © Estate of John Marin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.,
1999.95
John Marin
(1870–1953)
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Oil on canvas board,
14 x 17 3/4 in. (35.6 x 45.1 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund,
2006.1
Georgia O'Keeffe
(1887–1986)
Red Amaryllis, 1937
Red Amaryllis, 1937
Oil on canvas,
12 x 10 1/8 in. (30.5 x 25.7 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Roig. Image © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.,
C1984.1
Albert Eugene Gallatin
(1881–1952)
Room Space, 1937–38
Room Space, 1937–38
Oil on canvas,
30 1/4 x 25 3/8 in. (76.8 x 64.5 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1999.56
Milton Avery
(1885–1965)
Adolescence, 1947
Adolescence, 1947
Oil and graphite on canvas,
30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image © 2018 The Milton Avery Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.,
1992.3
George Tooker
(1920–2011)
Highway, 1953
Highway, 1953
Egg tempera on gesso hardboard,
22 7/8 x 17 7/8 in. (58.1 x 45.4 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection. Image © Estate of George Tooker. Courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York.,
1992.134
Ed Paschke
(1939–2004)
Topcat Boy, 1970
Topcat Boy, 1970
Acrylic on canvas,
71 x 51 in. (180.3 x 129.5 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund,
2017.3
Philip Evergood
(1901–1973)
Passing Show, 1951
Passing Show, 1951
Oil on canvas mounted on Masonite,
65 1/2 x 48 in. (166.4 x 121.9 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1992.34
Jamie Wyeth
(b. 1946)
Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986
Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986
Oil on Masonite,
36 x 50 1/8 in. (91.4 x 127.3 cm).
Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection,
1992.163