The Monterey Museum of Art (MMA) presents Monterey Modernism an exhibition on view Thursday, April 5 through June 17, 2012.
On the Carmel Coast, c. 1930, Jeannette Maxfield Lewis, Oil on art board.
Monterey Modernism features paintings and works on paper by California artists illuminating a revolutionary movement away from the popularity of Impressionism to an exploration of intense color and simplified form that emerged in art between World War I and World War II.
Modernism took root in the United States when, in 1913, the International Exposition of Modern Art in New York, (commonly known as the Armory Show) offered the first wide exposure to avant-garde European art. Under its influence, American artists turned away from the light-dominated feathery brushstrokes of Impressionism to adopt the use of vibrant, even violent color and simplified form demonstrated by Henri Matisse and the hard-edged geometric structures as seen in the work of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Marcel Duchamp.
Monterey Modernism is a natural juxtaposition to the California Impressionism exhibition on view concurrently at the MMA La Mirada,720 Via Mirada, Monterey, California, 93940.
Museum hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 11 am-5 pm, Sunday, 1-4 pm. For more information visit www.montereyart.org or call 831.3723.5477.