Although the dawn of the 20th century was a time of war, pandemic and social upheaval, it also brought with it an undeniable sense of hope and opportunity that was central to the modernist art that was flourishing at the time. Visionary new aesthetics were being unleashed on to the world, and artists truly believed in the revolutionary potential of their work. It is this unrivaled possibility, openness and optimism that the Whitney Museum’s new exhibit of modernist art, At the Dawn of a New Age, seeks to channel for museum-goers.
“There’s this sense of ebullience that registers in the work,” said the scholar and longtime Whitney curator Barbara Haskell, who organized this show. “It seemed that it would be fitting to showcase this work at a time when we’re dealing with the dystopia of the present day. I’m hoping to introduce the public to the range of quality and styles, the myriad ways that Americans translated what was happening in Europe to an American vernacular.”
