MoMA

Hector Guimard. (French, 1867-1942). Entrance Gate to Paris Subway (Métropolitain) Station, Paris, France. c. 1900. Painted cast iron, glazed lava, and glass, 13' 11" x 17' 10" x 32" (424.2 x 543.6 x 81.3 cm) Each vertical stanchion: 1040 lbs. Horizontal component: 460 lbs. Glazed lava sign: 100 lbs. Gift of Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, MoMA Highlights, p. 39 The emergence of the Art Nouveau style toward the end of the nineteenth century resulted from a search for a new aesthetic that was not based on historical or classical models. The sinuous, organic lines of Guimard's design and the stylized, giant stalks drooping under the weight of what seem to be swollen tropical flowers, but are actually amber glass lamps, make this a quintessentially Art Nouveau piece. His designs for this famous entrance arch and two others were intended to visually enhance the experience of underground travel on the new subway system for Paris. Paris was not the first city to implement an underground system (London already had one), but the approaching Paris Exposition of 1900 accelerated the need for an efficient and attractive means of mass transportation. Although Guimard never formally entered the competition for the design of the system's entrance gates that had been launched by the Compagnie du Métropolitain in 1898, he won the commission with his avant-garde schemes, all using standardized cast-iron components to facilitate manufacture, transport, and assembly. While Parisians were at first hesitant in their response to Guimard's use of an unfamiliar vocabulary, his Métro gates, installed throughout the city, effectively brought the Art Nouveau style, formerly associated with the luxury market, into the realm of popular culture. Text from: moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=2393

Hector Guimard. (French, 1867-1942). Entrance Gate to Paris Subway (Métropolitain) Station, Paris, France. c. 1900. Painted cast iron, glazed lava, and glass, 13' 11" x 17' 10" x 32" (424.2 x 543.6 x 81.3 cm) Each vertical stanchion: 1040 lbs. Horizontal component: 460 lbs. Glazed lava sign: 100 lbs. Gift of Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, MoMA Highlights, p. 39 The emergence of the Art Nouveau style toward the end of the nineteenth century resulted from a search for a new aesthetic that was not based on historical or classical models. The sinuous, organic lines of Guimard's design and the stylized, giant stalks drooping under the weight of what seem to be swollen tropical flowers, but are actually amber glass lamps, make this a quintessentially Art Nouveau piece. His designs for this famous entrance arch and two others were intended to visually enhance the experience of underground travel on the new subway system for Paris. Paris was not the first city to implement an underground system (London already had one), but the approaching Paris Exposition of 1900 accelerated the need for an efficient and attractive means of mass transportation. Although Guimard never formally entered the competition for the design of the system's entrance gates that had been launched by the Compagnie du Métropolitain in 1898, he won the commission with his avant-garde schemes, all using standardized cast-iron components to facilitate manufacture, transport, and assembly. While Parisians were at first hesitant in their response to Guimard's use of an unfamiliar vocabulary, his Métro gates, installed throughout the city, effectively brought the Art Nouveau style, formerly associated with the luxury market, into the realm of popular culture. Text from: moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=2393

Aristide Maillol. (French, 1861-1944). The River. Begun 1938-39; completed 1943 (cast 1948). Lead, 53 3/4" x 7' 6" x 66" (136.5 x 228.6 x 167.7 cm), on lead base designed by the artist 9 3/4 x 67 x 27 3/4" (24.8 x 170.1 x 70.4 cm). Printer: Alexis Rudier. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. On view at MoMA Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 169 The daring instability and torsion of The River are rare in Maillol's sculpture. Instead of trying to emulate the dynamism of twentieth-century life, as did so many artists of his time, Maillol usually sought an art of serenity and stillness, of classical nobility and simplicity. As late as 1937, in fact, he remarked, "For my taste, there should be as little movement as possible in sculpture." Yet within a year or so afterward he had conceived The River, a work in which the movement is almost reckless. Commissioned to create a monument to a notable pacifist, the French writer Henri Barbusse, Maillol conceived the sculpture as a work on the theme of war: a woman stabbed in the back, and falling. When the commission fell through, he transformed the idea into The River. In a departure from the usual conventions of monumental sculpture, the figure lies low to the ground and rests apparently precariously on the pedestal, even hanging below its edge. Twisting and turning, her raised arms suggesting the pressure of some powerful current, this woman is the personification of moving water. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=81798

Aristide Maillol. (French, 1861-1944). The River. Begun 1938-39; completed 1943 (cast 1948). Lead, 53 3/4" x 7' 6" x 66" (136.5 x 228.6 x 167.7 cm), on lead base designed by the artist 9 3/4 x 67 x 27 3/4" (24.8 x 170.1 x 70.4 cm). Printer: Alexis Rudier. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. On view at MoMA Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 169 The daring instability and torsion of The River are rare in Maillol's sculpture. Instead of trying to emulate the dynamism of twentieth-century life, as did so many artists of his time, Maillol usually sought an art of serenity and stillness, of classical nobility and simplicity. As late as 1937, in fact, he remarked, "For my taste, there should be as little movement as possible in sculpture." Yet within a year or so afterward he had conceived The River, a work in which the movement is almost reckless. Commissioned to create a monument to a notable pacifist, the French writer Henri Barbusse, Maillol conceived the sculpture as a work on the theme of war: a woman stabbed in the back, and falling. When the commission fell through, he transformed the idea into The River. In a departure from the usual conventions of monumental sculpture, the figure lies low to the ground and rests apparently precariously on the pedestal, even hanging below its edge. Twisting and turning, her raised arms suggesting the pressure of some powerful current, this woman is the personification of moving water. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=81798

Aristide Maillol. (French, 1861-1944). The River. Begun 1938-39; completed 1943 (cast 1948). Lead, 53 3/4" x 7' 6" x 66" (136.5 x 228.6 x 167.7 cm), on lead base designed by the artist 9 3/4 x 67 x 27 3/4" (24.8 x 170.1 x 70.4 cm). Printer: Alexis Rudier. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. On view at MoMA Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 169 The daring instability and torsion of The River are rare in Maillol's sculpture. Instead of trying to emulate the dynamism of twentieth-century life, as did so many artists of his time, Maillol usually sought an art of serenity and stillness, of classical nobility and simplicity. As late as 1937, in fact, he remarked, "For my taste, there should be as little movement as possible in sculpture." Yet within a year or so afterward he had conceived The River, a work in which the movement is almost reckless. Commissioned to create a monument to a notable pacifist, the French writer Henri Barbusse, Maillol conceived the sculpture as a work on the theme of war: a woman stabbed in the back, and falling. When the commission fell through, he transformed the idea into The River. In a departure from the usual conventions of monumental sculpture, the figure lies low to the ground and rests apparently precariously on the pedestal, even hanging below its edge. Twisting and turning, her raised arms suggesting the pressure of some powerful current, this woman is the personification of moving water. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=81798

Aristide Maillol. (French, 1861-1944). The River. Begun 1938-39; completed 1943 (cast 1948). Lead, 53 3/4" x 7' 6" x 66" (136.5 x 228.6 x 167.7 cm), on lead base designed by the artist 9 3/4 x 67 x 27 3/4" (24.8 x 170.1 x 70.4 cm). Printer: Alexis Rudier. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. On view at MoMA Publication excerpt The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 169 The daring instability and torsion of The River are rare in Maillol's sculpture. Instead of trying to emulate the dynamism of twentieth-century life, as did so many artists of his time, Maillol usually sought an art of serenity and stillness, of classical nobility and simplicity. As late as 1937, in fact, he remarked, "For my taste, there should be as little movement as possible in sculpture." Yet within a year or so afterward he had conceived The River, a work in which the movement is almost reckless. Commissioned to create a monument to a notable pacifist, the French writer Henri Barbusse, Maillol conceived the sculpture as a work on the theme of war: a woman stabbed in the back, and falling. When the commission fell through, he transformed the idea into The River. In a departure from the usual conventions of monumental sculpture, the figure lies low to the ground and rests apparently precariously on the pedestal, even hanging below its edge. Twisting and turning, her raised arms suggesting the pressure of some powerful current, this woman is the personification of moving water. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=81798

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden Taniguchi reintroduces The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden as the heart of the Museum by preserving Philip Johnson's original 1953 design. The architect’s plan enlarges the garden and re-establishes the southern terrace, which is now an elegant outdoor patio for the Museum’s new restaurant. Views of the garden are now available from numerous vantage points throughout the Museum. Text from: moma.org/about_moma/building/index.html

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden Taniguchi reintroduces The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden as the heart of the Museum by preserving Philip Johnson's original 1953 design. The architect’s plan enlarges the garden and re-establishes the southern terrace, which is now an elegant outdoor patio for the Museum’s new restaurant. Views of the garden are now available from numerous vantage points throughout the Museum. Text from: moma.org/about_moma/building/index.html

Richard Serra. (American, born 1939). Torqued Ellipse IV. 1998. Weatherproof steel, 12' 3" x 26' 6" x 32' 6" (373.4 x 807.7 x 990.6 cm). Fractional and promised gift of Leon and Debra Black. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80742

Richard Serra. (American, born 1939). Torqued Ellipse IV. 1998. Weatherproof steel, 12' 3" x 26' 6" x 32' 6" (373.4 x 807.7 x 990.6 cm). Fractional and promised gift of Leon and Debra Black. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80742

Auguste Rodin. (French, 1840-1917). St. John the Baptist Preaching. 1878-80. Bronze, 6' 6 3/4" (200.1 cm) high, 37 x 22 1/2" (94 x 57.2 cm) at base. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund Text from: moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:DE:I:5&...

Auguste Rodin. (French, 1840-1917). St. John the Baptist Preaching. 1878-80. Bronze, 6' 6 3/4" (200.1 cm) high, 37 x 22 1/2" (94 x 57.2 cm) at base. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund Text from: moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:DE:I:5&...

Georges-Pierre Seurat. (French, 1859-1891). Port-en-Bessin, Entrance to the Harbor. 1888. Oil on canvas, 21 5/8 x 25 5/8" (54.9 x 65.1 cm). Lillie P. Bliss Collection Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=78912

Georges-Pierre Seurat. (French, 1859-1891). Port-en-Bessin, Entrance to the Harbor. 1888. Oil on canvas, 21 5/8 x 25 5/8" (54.9 x 65.1 cm). Lillie P. Bliss Collection Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=78912

Georges-Pierre Seurat. (French, 1859-1891). The Channel at Gravelines, Evening. summer 1890. Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/4" (65.4 x 81.9 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. M. Burden Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80354

Paul Signac. (French, 1863-1935). Setting Sun. Sardine Fishing. Adagio. Opus 221 from the series The Sea, The Boats, Concarneau. 1891. Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 31 7/8" (65 x 81 cm). Mrs. John Hay Whitney Bequest. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80023

Paul Signac. (French, 1863-1935). Setting Sun. Sardine Fishing. Adagio. Opus 221 from the series The Sea, The Boats, Concarneau. 1891. Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 31 7/8" (65 x 81 cm). Mrs. John Hay Whitney Bequest. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80023

Georges-Pierre Seurat. (French, 1859-1891). Grandcamp, Evening. 1885. Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 1/2" (66.2 x 82.4 cm). Estate of John Hay Whitney. Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=79409