Upon his arrival in New York City in 1927, the artist José Clemente Orozco wrote to his wife, “This incredible city, part amusement park and part growing monstrosity, has changed a great deal since I was last here [eight years ago].” Orozco’s assessment speaks to the exuberant cultural transformations of New York in the Jazz Age. Dealers and patrons began to support and promote communities of avant-garde artists active across the city. Artists, intellectuals, and activists established magazines as platforms for their work and ideas. Among them was Aaron Douglas, who wrote art criticism and provided illustrations for many publications associated with the Harlem Renaissance. For those who incorporated aspects of the urban landscape into their work, like Stuart Davis and John Storrs, the city was both magnet and muse.
Collection 1880s–1940s
509
New York City, 1920s
509
New York City, 1920s
- MoMA, Floor 5, 509 The David Geffen Wing
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Stuart Davis Lucky Strike 1921 -
Aaron Douglas Study for the book God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson 1926 -
Arthur Dove The Intellectual 1925 -
Walker Evans Girl in Fulton Street, New York 1929 -
Edward Hopper Night Windows 1928 -
John Marin Lower Manhattan (Composing Derived from Top of Woolworth) 1922 -
Oscar Micheaux Excerpt from "Ten Minutes to Live" 1932 -
Elie Nadelman Woman at the Piano c. 1917 -
Georgia O'Keeffe Abstraction Blue 1927 -
José Clemente Orozco The Subway 1928 -
Martin Puryear Cane 2000 -
Ben Shahn Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco 1931–32 -
Niles Spencer Near Washington Square c. 1928 -
Florine Stettheimer Family Portrait, II 1933 -
John Storrs Stone Panel with Black Marble Inlay 1920-21 -
James Van Der Zee Couple, Harlem 1932
Artists
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George Ault
American, 1891–19484 exhibitions, 3 works online -
Peter Blume
American, 1906–199251 exhibitions, 18 works online -
Stuart Davis
American, 1892–196472 exhibitions, 26 works online -
Preston Dickinson
American, 1889–193022 exhibitions, 5 works online -
Aaron Douglas
American, 1899–19792 exhibitions, 1 work online - There are 24 artists in this collection gallery online.
Installation images
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