Exhibitions

ORIGINS OF INFLUENCE: THE ALFRED STIEGLITZ COLLECTION OF MODERN ART

The Carl Van Vechten Gallery (Fisk University) / 1000 17th Ave. N. April 7, 2016 - April 5, 2017

KOTA
BAULE
PAUL CÉZANNE
CHARLES DEMUTH
ARTHUR GARFIELD DOVE
CHARLES DUNCAN
WANDA GÁG
GEORGE GROSZ
MARSDEN HARTLEY
BERNARD KARFIOL
BENJAMIN KOPMAN
STANTON MACDONALD-WRIGHT
MANOLO
JOHN MARIN
ALFRED HENRY MAURER
KENNETH HAYES MILLER
ELIE NADELMAN
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
JULES PASCIN
ATTRIBUTED TO PABLO PICASSO
PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR
DIEGO RIVERA
GINO SEVERINI
CHARLES SHEELER
PAUL SIGNAC
THÉOPHILE ALEXANDRE STEINLEN
MAURICE STERNE
FLORINE STETTHEIMER
ALFRED STIEGLITZ
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
UNKNOWN
ABRAHAM WALKOWITZ

A new spirit enveloped American life at the dawn of the 20th century. It was a spirit of change, dissent, revolution, and of hopefulness. New directions seemed possible in politics, the arts, and in the quality of life overall. Institutions and established ways of thinking were subjected to critical reappraisals. Experimentation replaced acquiescence to received customs and traditions. Alfred Stieglitz embodied this new spirit more than any of his contemporaries working in the arts. At a time when American culture was redefining its fundamental ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world, Stieglitz’s seminal role as artist and art impresario defined him as a singular force for shaping a new American vision of art and culture.

Origins of Influence: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern Art celebrates the legacy of the modernist movement. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern Art After his death in 1946, Stieglitz’s widow, Georgia O’Keefe, and her assistant Doris Bry, catalogued and donated most of his extensive collection to institutions at home and abroad. Fisk University was among the first to receive from O’Keefe, along with The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Works were also given to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Library of Congress, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Phillips Collection, The George Eastman House, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Charles S. Johnson (1893-1956), Fisk University’s first African-American president and his close friend, Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), a New York writer, photographer, philanthropist, and friend of O’Keefe, influenced her decision to give works to the university for the establishment of an on-campus art gallery. Today, a partnership has been forged between Fisk University and Crystal Bridges that allows this important collection to be shared between Nashville and Bentonville on a biannual basis.