The Brothers Rico. 1957. USA. Directed by Phil Karlson

These notes accompany screenings of Phil Karlson’s The Brothers Rico on January 9, 10, and 11 in Theater 2.

Phil Karlson (1908–1985) struggled against what Andrew Sarris called “cosmopolitan genre prejudices.”

Unité d’Habitation, Boulevard Michelet, Marseilles, France

In the fall of 2011, we traveled to a leafy suburb of Munich, Germany, to examine a kitchen that the Department of Architecture and Design hoped to purchase. When we arrived, there in the garage of a collector we found an assembled kitchen from Unité d’Habitation, Le Corbusier’s famous apartment building in Marseille.

Polaroid Sunglasses. c. 1946. Plastic, l. 6 1/8″ (15.6 cm). Manufactured by American Optical Corp., Southbridge, MA. Gift of Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

A favorite childhood pastime of mine was digging for buried artifacts of the Leni Lenape in my backyard. Another was making maps of the neighborhood. Neither pursuit was entirely productive in any real sense

East of Eden. 1955. USA. Directed by Elia Kazan

These notes accompany screenings of Elia Kazan’s East of Eden on January 2, 3, and 4 in Theater 3.

From a technical standpoint, East of Eden marked a new departure for Elia Kazan (1909–2003)

MoMA Learning was launched with great excitement in October, and user feedback has already helped the site evolve, prompting tweaks to design and informing additional content and features.  

The Tender Game. 1958. USA. Directed by John Hubley

These notes accompany a program of independent animated films screening on December 26, 27, and 28 in Theater 3.

The departure of many animation artists from Disney as a result of labor troubles and a desire for freer expression led to a diffusion of talent and styles in the animation field.

Christian Marclay. Video stills from The Clock. 2010. Single-channel video with sound, 24 hours. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!  Hope you enjoy the holiday season to the fullest, and we’ll be back on January 2.

If you are in New York City for New Year’s Eve, come to MoMA for a special showing of Christian Marclay’s cinematic tour de force The Clock in its entirety, which is the first opportunity for the public to view all 24 hours of the piece at MoMA. The Clock will go on view at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, December 31, and will run continuously until 5:30 p.m. on January 1. In conjunction with this showing, the Museum’s Cafe 2 restaurant offers a special menu of wines, cheeses, salumi, and desserts on New Year’s Eve from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., along with an all-night espresso bar. We hope you will join us!

Installation view of “Sogetsu Art Center and Fluxus” display in Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde at The Museum of Modern Art, November 19, 2012–February 25, 2013. Photo: Jonathan Muzikar

This is the first post in a new blog series entitled Exhibiting Fluxus, showcasing works from the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift that are currently on view.

Montgomery Clift collection film cans. Photo by Art Wehrhahn, Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center manager

The provenance of a work of art is an important part of the acquisition process. What is a provenance? By definition, the noun provenance—with respect to art and archeological specimens—is a place or source of origin.