Author Description

From the many thousands of paintings, sculptures, and constructions in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, 150 outstanding examples have been selected to indicate the quality and diversity of modern masters and movements from about 1885 to the present day. This book, a substantial revision of An Invitation to See first published in 1973, takes account of new developments in art since then and the Museum's acquisition of notable examples of both earlier and more recent date. Of the 120 paintings reproduced, almost a quarter are new selections; and whereas the original edition was confined to paintings, in the present volume 30 examples of three-dimensional works have been included. Painters range from late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century pioneers of modernism such as Degas, Cezanne, van Gogh, and Seurat to current artists who challenge the very premises of modernism itself. Sculptures vary from representations of the human figure by Rodin, Matisse, and Moore to an abstraction by Arp, a bird by Brancusi, and a soft sculpture by Oldenburg. Among the constructions are works by Picasso, Calder, and David Smith. The selections are grouped in pairs or sequences that offer opportunities for contrasts or comparisons - sometimes of an unexpected sort. Such traditional genres as portraits, historical subjects, landscapes, city views, and still life are investigated, as well as the many kinds of abstraction that have evolved during the past century. Different ways of portraying reality and fantasy are discussed, as well as artists' free experimentation with new mediums and means of expression. The comments that accompany the illustrations include frequent quotations from statementsby the artists themselves or from writings by distinguished critics.