Museum Collection: European and American Modernism July 15, 2010

Through the efforts and interests of the museum's second director, Ala Story, the collection of modernist art was established. The rapid evolution towards abstraction is well demonstrated through examples of Cubism, Constructivism, Vorticism and other avant-garde art by such artists as George Grosz, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Kurt Schwitters, and Wassily Kandinsky. Fauvism and Expressionism are represented through works by Egon Schiele, Emile Nolde, Andre Derain, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and major paintings by Alexej Jawelensky, and Marc Chagall. The collection of surrealist work comprises paintings and works on paper by Joan Miro and Salvador Dali. American Modernism is represented by significant works from vanguard sculptor Gaston Lachaise, Fauvist-inspired Milton Avery, and Precisionist Joseph Stella.