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What’s Modern?

November 6–December 18, 2004
980 Madison Avenue, New York

Richard Artschwager, Geo. W. Bush, 2002 Acrylic, fiber panel on celotex in artist's frame, 26 × 20 inches (66 × 50.8 cm)

Richard Artschwager, Geo. W. Bush, 2002

Acrylic, fiber panel on celotex in artist's frame, 26 × 20 inches (66 × 50.8 cm)

Francis Bacon, Study of Gerard Schürmann, 1969 Oil on canvas, 13 ⅝ × 11 ⅝ inches (34.6 × 29.5 cm)

Francis Bacon, Study of Gerard Schürmann, 1969

Oil on canvas, 13 ⅝ × 11 ⅝ inches (34.6 × 29.5 cm)

John Baldessari, A 1968 Painting, 1968 Acrylic and photo-emulsion on canvas, 59 × 45 inches (149.9 × 114.3 cm)

John Baldessari, A 1968 Painting, 1968

Acrylic and photo-emulsion on canvas, 59 × 45 inches (149.9 × 114.3 cm)

Alexander Calder, Fish, 1952 Hanging mobile of painted steel rod, wire, string, colored glass and metal objects, 15 ½ × 45 ½ inches (39.4 × 115.6 cm)

Alexander Calder, Fish, 1952

Hanging mobile of painted steel rod, wire, string, colored glass and metal objects, 15 ½ × 45 ½ inches (39.4 × 115.6 cm)

Paul Cézanne, Femme Assise, 1893–94 Oil on canvas, 22 × 18 inches (55 × 46 cm)

Paul Cézanne, Femme Assise, 1893–94

Oil on canvas, 22 × 18 inches (55 × 46 cm)

Willem de Kooning, Seated Woman on a Bench, 1972 Bronze, 37 ¾ × 36 × 34 ⅜ inches (95.9 × 91.4 × 87.3 cm), edition of 7

Willem de Kooning, Seated Woman on a Bench, 1972

Bronze, 37 ¾ × 36 × 34 ⅜ inches (95.9 × 91.4 × 87.3 cm), edition of 7

Alberto Giacometti, Man Crossing a Square (Homme traversant une place), 1949 Bronze, 26 ¾ × 31 ½ × 20 ½ inches (67.9 × 80 × 52.1 cm)

Alberto Giacometti, Man Crossing a Square (Homme traversant une place), 1949

Bronze, 26 ¾ × 31 ½ × 20 ½ inches (67.9 × 80 × 52.1 cm)

Damien Hirst, Love Affair, 2001 Household gloss paint and butterflies on canvas, 100 ⅜ × 69 ⅜ inches (254.9 × 176.2 cm)

Damien Hirst, Love Affair, 2001

Household gloss paint and butterflies on canvas, 100 ⅜ × 69 ⅜ inches (254.9 × 176.2 cm)

Jasper Johns, Untitled, 1980 Oil on vellum on canvas, 30 ⅜ × 54 ⅜ inches (77.2 × 138.1 cm)

Jasper Johns, Untitled, 1980

Oil on vellum on canvas, 30 ⅜ × 54 ⅜ inches (77.2 × 138.1 cm)

Jeff Koons, Winter Bears, 1988 Polychromed wood, 48 × 44 × 15 ½ inches (121.9 × 111.8 × 39.4 cm), edition of 3

Jeff Koons, Winter Bears, 1988

Polychromed wood, 48 × 44 × 15 ½ inches (121.9 × 111.8 × 39.4 cm), edition of 3

Roy Lichtenstein, Nude with Abstract Painting, 1994 Oil and Magna on canvas, 60 × 82 inches (152.4 × 208.3 cm)

Roy Lichtenstein, Nude with Abstract Painting, 1994

Oil and Magna on canvas, 60 × 82 inches (152.4 × 208.3 cm)

Pablo Picasso, La Femme Enciente, 1950 Bronze, 41 ¼ × 7 ⅝ × 6 ¼ inches (104.8 × 19.4 × 15.9 cm), edition of 6

Pablo Picasso, La Femme Enciente, 1950

Bronze, 41 ¼ × 7 ⅝ × 6 ¼ inches (104.8 × 19.4 × 15.9 cm), edition of 6

Richard Prince, All I've Heard, 1989 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 96 × 75 inches (243.8 × 190.5 cm)

Richard Prince, All I've Heard, 1989

Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 96 × 75 inches (243.8 × 190.5 cm)

Cy Twombly, Untitled (Rome), 1961 Oil, crayon and graphite on canvas, 51 ¼ × 59 ¼ inches (130.2 × 150.5 cm)

Cy Twombly, Untitled (Rome), 1961

Oil, crayon and graphite on canvas, 51 ¼ × 59 ¼ inches (130.2 × 150.5 cm)

Andy Warhol, Mao, 1973 Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 50 × 42 inches (127 × 106.7 cm)

Andy Warhol, Mao, 1973

Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 50 × 42 inches (127 × 106.7 cm)

About

Gagosian is pleased to present the exhibition What’s Modern?, a survey of historic and contemporary works that extensively explores the modernist movement. Scheduled to coincide with the reopening of the Museum of Modern Art’s Manhattan location, this show examines the scope and influence of modernism beginning with the nineteenth century, following its transitions through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

What’s Modern? highlights the work of thirty major artists, celebrating almost two centuries of art created since the explosion of modernism. From its genesis with Cézanne and Picasso, to the postwar abstraction of de Kooning and Pollock, to the contemporary bearers of modernism’s long-lasting influence, this exhibition seeks to investigate the extent to which the notion of modernism has persisted in the history of art. What’s Modern? traces the timeline of modernism and will explore the means by which artists since the nineteenth century have challenged convention and become “modern” through abstraction, expression, and appropriation.

Artists included in this exhibition: Richard Artschwager, Francis Bacon, John Baldessari, Constantin Brancusi, Alexander Calder, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Cézanne, Salvador Dalí, Willem de Kooning, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, Damien Hirst, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Ed Ruscha, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Georges Seurat, Frank Stella, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol

A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

A Foreigner Called Picasso

Behind the Art
A Foreigner Called Picasso

Join president of the Picasso Museum, Paris, Cécile Debray; curator, writer, biographer, and historian Annie Cohen-Solal; art historian Vérane Tasseau; and Gagosian director Serena Cattaneo Adorno as they discuss A Foreigner Called Picasso. Organized in association with the Musée national Picasso–Paris and the Palais de la Porte Dorée–Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris, the exhibition reframes our perception of Picasso and focuses on his status as a permanent foreigner in France.

Dora Maar, Portrait de Picasso, Paris, studio du 29, rue d’Astorg, winter 1935–36

A Foreigner Called Picasso

Cocurator of the exhibition A Foreigner Called Picasso, at Gagosian, New York, Annie Cohen-Solal writes about the genesis of the project, her commitment to the figure of the outsider, and Picasso’s enduring relevance to matters geopolitical and sociological.

Dorothy Lichtenstein and Irving Blum stand next to each other in front of Roy Lichtenstein's studio in Southampton, New York

In Conversation
Irving Blum and Dorothy Lichtenstein

In celebration of the centenary of Roy Lichtenstein’s birth, Irving Blum and Dorothy Lichtenstein sat down to discuss the artist’s life and legacy, and the exhibition Lichtenstein Remembered curated by Blum at Gagosian, New York.

Alison McDonald, Daniel Belasco, and Scott Rothkopf next to each other in front of a live audience

In Conversation
Daniel Belasco and Scott Rothkopf on Roy Lichtenstein

Gagosian and the Art Students League of New York hosted a conversation on Roy Lichtenstein with Daniel Belasco, executive director of the Al Held Foundation, and Scott Rothkopf, senior deputy director and chief curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Organized in celebration of the centenary of the artist’s birth and moderated by Alison McDonald, chief creative officer at Gagosian, the discussion highlights multiple perspectives on Lichtenstein’s decades-long career, during which he helped originate the Pop art movement. The talk coincides with Lichtenstein Remembered, curated by Irving Blum and on view at Gagosian, New York, through October 21.

Steve Martin playing a banjo

Roy and Irving

Actor and art collector Steve Martin reflects on the friendship and professional partnership between Roy Lichtenstein and art dealer Irving Blum.

Christopher Makos, Andy Warhol at Paris Apartment Window, 1981

In Conversation
Christopher Makos and Jessica Beck

Andy Warhol’s Insiders at the Gagosian Shop in London’s historic Burlington Arcade is a group exhibition and shop takeover that feature works by Warhol and portraits of the artist by friends and collaborators including photographers Ronnie Cutrone, Michael Halsband, Christopher Makos, and Billy Name. To celebrate the occasion, Makos met with Gagosian director Jessica Beck to speak about his friendship with Warhol and the joy of the unexpected.