NEW YORK, NY.- The late 19th through the first half of the 20th centuries saw the rise of several art movements, including Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Pointillism, and Symbolism. These movements set the groundwork for the development of modern art in the latter 20th century, and opened the door for artists to work abstractly and conceptually in the 21st century.

By looking at 19th and early 20th century artwork, we can gain insight into the artistic and historical complexities of this transformative period. The beginning of globalization allowed artists to see artwork made in other countries; to use paint and materials bettered by technical innovation; and to engage with the new societal focus on individualism, which in turn shed light on the gender, class, and racial dynamics of the time. Each of these forces appears in the works of Delacroix, Matisse, Bonnard and Cézanne, and hint at the major movements of modern and contemporary art on the horizon.


Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863), Standing Female Nude Seen from Behind, Pencil on paper, 9 1/4 x 6 3/8 inches.

Eugène Delacroix was born in 1798 in France and lived there until 1863. In three small scale drawings shown here, we see his enormous talent for composition, which enabled him to be an effective muralist as well as an easel painter. The smallest sheet is from a “carnet” or sketchbook he made from life while on a brief diplomatic trip to Morocco in January 1832. It depicts a lithe and sinewy dancer he had seen in Tangiers, and this figure was used to create his 1839 major painting The Jewish Wedding, as well as inspiring the figure in Femmes d’Alger of 1834 (both Paris, Musée du Louvre). Both of these important paintings subsequently inspired Matisse, who in 1912, also traveled to Morocco.


Moroccan Dancer, 1832, Pencil on paper, 5 x 4 inches.


Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947), L'Escalier, c. 1932, Oil and gouache on paper, laid down on canvas, 25 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches.

A large and extraordinary oil on paper by Pierre Bonnard depicts an interior view of his home in Le Cannet, with his partner Marthe peering around the base of the staircase, and their dog looking up eagerly at the viewer. Bonnard shows us a postcard of his interior world, the influence of Van Gogh clearly seen in the bright yellow rays of light in the upper right corner of the composition.

Done while Henri Matisse was living in Vence, high in the hills over Nice, our charcoal is one in a series of large scale drawings of black models from the Caribbean and Africa. Matisse employed black models in creating the illustrated Fleurs du Mal, published in 1947, and produced a series of fourteen etchings dating from 1946 of La Martiniquaise, using models from Madagascar and the Congo.

Interestingly, our drawing was traditionally titled “Femme Assise” without the identification of the race or nationality of the model.


Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954), Femme assise, 1945, Charcoal on paper, 20 1/2 x 15 9/10 inches


Each artist’s individual technique and chosen subject matter is indicative of the shifting artistic consciousness of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though created at different times, under different circumstances, and within the framework of different artistic movements, the artworks in this show are in undeniable dialogue with one another while laying groundwork for what will come next.

Masterworks in line and color, each of these works are masterful in their ability to capture the moment in which they were made, and to resonate in the future.

Group Show: Masterworks of Line and Color is the latest in a series of exhibitions presented at the Art Show which include The Watercolors of George Sand (she/her/hers) (2023); Eugène Delacroix: The Enduring Power of Image (2019; essay by Jovana Stokic); Pierre Bonnard: Affinities (2018; essay by Karen Wilkin) and Under the Influence: Edouard Vuillard and Contemporary Art (2017; essay by Norman Kleeblatt).