FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World War I Examined Through Paintings, Sculptures,
Photographs at Nelson Atkins
Exhibition Coincides with Centennial Celebration
Kansas City, MO. Dec.16, 2014–World War I, also called The Great War, was the first total war of
the modern period. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the long and bloody conflict that
began during the summer of 1914, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City gathered
paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs and decorative arts by many of the most
esteemed European and American modernists. World War I and the Rise of Modernism opens on
December 17 and runs through July 19, 2015, walking visitors through the time period before,
during and after The Great War.
“Both Europe and the larger Western
culture it represented were
dramatically altered during World
War I,” said Julián Zugazagoitia,
Menefee D. and Mary Louise
Blackwell CEO & Director of the
Nelson-Atkins. “This exhibition
reveals the major shift in perspective
brought on by The Great War, as well
as the disillusionment of an entire
society.”
Modernism, an international art
movement, was well underway when
World War I erupted, and it
continued to evolve after the conclusion of the war. There are 59 works of art in World War I and the
Rise of Modernism. Among the artists represented are Wassily (Vasily) Kandinsky (Russia), Mies van
der Rohe and Emil Nolde (Germany), Egon Schiele (Austria), Georges Braque and Yves Tanguy
(France), Giorgio de Chirico and Umberto Boccioni (Italy), Marsden Hartley and Alfred Stieglitz
(United States).
“All great art has the power to
move us intellectually, emotionally
and spiritually,” said Jan Schall,
Sanders Sosland Curator of
Modern Art. “The pure, vibrant
colors of Wassily (Vasily)
Kandinsky’s Sketch for ‘Composition
II’, an extraordinary pre-war
painting on loan from New York’s
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
express the spiritual transformation
he envisioned for the modern
world. In contrast, the raw, angular
bursts of red and green in André
Masson’s post-war painting, The
Little Tragedy, evoke the violence of
conflict, while Kaethe Kollwitz’s
Self-Portrait reveals the artist’s grief
in response to the battlefield death
of her son, Peter.”
German Expressionism, French Cubism and Italian Futurism were the three dominant Modernist
styles of pre-war art. As art movements, they continued to advance after the war ended. But all were
impacted by the devastation. Expressionist artist Franz Marc and Futurist artist Umberto Boccioni
fought for Germany and Italy, respectively. Both died in combat.
After the war, Mies van der Rohe and Margarete Heymann-Loebenstein, working at the now-famous
German Bauhaus (House of Construction), devoted themselves to the idea and process of building a
new world of art, design, and architecture, governed by rational efficiency and economy. On the
other hand, the French Surrealists, influenced by Freudian psychology, explored the realm of dreams
and imagination, as they sought to understand the irrational forces that guide human thought and
action.
“We are fortunate to be able to tell this dramatic story of pre-, during-, and post-war Modernism by
uniting works from the museum’s own collection with generous loans from the Guggenheim
Museum, the National World War I Museum, and private collections,” said Schall.
A timeline on one of the exhibition walls depicts highlights of the era, detailing the socio-political
and art events happening at certain points before, during and after WWI.
There are two History and Art Exchange Talks, one at the Nelson-Atkins and the other at the
National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. The institutions partnered to explore the
connections between war and creativity.
At the Nelson-Atkins:
WWI in Perspective
Thursday, January 8, 6 p.m.
in Atkins Auditorium. Join
noted historian Michael
Neiberg, professor of history
in the department of national
security and strategy at the
United States Army War
College in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, as he discusses
the historic impact of the
world’s first global conflict.
At the WWI Museum:
DADA: A World Turned Upside Down
Thursday, January 22, at 6 p.m. Join Jan Schall, Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern Art at the
Nelson-Atkins, for a look at DADA, the art movement that mocked and mourned the insanity of a
world at war.
Free admission provided courtesy of the WWIKC partnership.
This exhibition is supported by The Donald J. Hall Initiative.
Image captions: Vasily Kandinsky. b. 1866, Moscow; d. 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Sketch for “Composition II”
(Skizze für “Komposition II”), 1909–10. Oil on canvas. 38 3/8 x 51 5/8 inches (97.5 c 131.2 cm). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection. 45.961
Marsden Hartley. American. 1877-1943. Himmel, ca. 1914-1915. Oil on canvas. Unframed: 47 1/4 x 47 3/8 inches
(120.02 x 120.33 cm). Artist's painted frame: 49 9/16 x 49 9/16 x 2 inches (125.89 x 125.89 x 5.08 cm). Gift of the
Friends of Art
Designer: Margarete Heymann-Löbenstein Manufacturer: Haël-Werkstätten für künstlerische Keramik , German , 19231934. Teapot with Lid, ca. 1930. Alpacca (silvered metal alloy) with synthetic resin. 5 1/2 x 10 x 6 3/4 inches. NAMA
Collection
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s
finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into
its renowned collection of more than 33,500 art objects and is best known for its Asian art,
European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and
Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum
is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the NelsonAtkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the
original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10
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Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART
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