NEW YORK, NY.- This fall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents The Parade (ca. 1950), a work comprised of 63 drawings by Polish-born artist Si Lewen (1918–2016). On view from October 1, 2026, through January 5, 2027, the presentation is the first public exhibition of the work since the Museum acquired it in 2024. Created in the years following World War II, the epic sequence of charcoal, pencil, and ink drawings is informed by Lewen's extraordinary life. Born in Poland to Jewish parents and raised in Germany, Lewen fled Nazi persecution with his family in 1933, spending a brief period in France before immigrating to the United States. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army as one of the Ritchie Boys, a specialized unit of German-speaking soldiers. After seeing action in Normandy, he was present at Buchenwald concentration camp shortly after its liberation in 1945, experiences that shaped The Parade into a powerful meditation on war, memory, and the human condition.

"The Parade is a remarkable achievement of 20th-century art that is at once deeply personal and profoundly charged," said Max Hollein, The Met's Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. "It is a major acquisition for The Met, ensuring that Si Lewen's uniquely moving, enormously relevant, and extraordinarily engaging work can reach a wider public and speak with renewed urgency, especially during these challenging times. As we look toward the future of the Museum's modern and contemporary art program in our new Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, opening in 2030, we remain committed to expanding the stories of modern art by bringing artists like Lewen to wider recognition."

The exhibition's title, There Are No Words: Si Lewen's Parade, recalls Lewen's own description of his work. Inspired by the wordless novels of modernist printmakers such as Frans Masereel, Lewen explained, "there are no words...just the picture itself is the narrative." At the same time, the title reflects his conviction that the horrors of war ultimately defy language.

Across 63 drawings, The Parade traces a visual journey from military pageantry to conflict, devastation, and mourning, revealing the cyclical nature of violence through the cumulative force of its imagery. Lewen later reflected that the military parades he witnessed as a child in Germany gave way to the death marches of World War II, a transformation that became central to the work's structure. Although rooted in the artist's own experiences, The Parade transcends any single historical moment, inviting viewers to reflect on the long-lasting human consequences of war.

"Made in the years following World War II, The Parade makes use of the formal possibilities of drawing to create an immersive narrative that unfolds as viewers move around the gallery," said Maria Castro, The Met's Jacques and Natasha Gelman Associate Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. "As sparse compositions focused on small groups of figures give way to densely packed, chaotic darker scenes, Lewen’s visual narrative draws viewers into a rhythmic and chilling march across frames. The work’s emotional power lies in its ability to speak across generations through the cumulative force of its images."

There Are No Words: Si Lewen's Parade is a highlight among the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art's displays of recent acquisitions, offering audiences an early glimpse of the collection's future direction. As The Met prepares for the opening of the Tang Wing in 2030, focused exhibitions such as this reveal the breadth of the department's holdings and expand public access to 20th- and 21st-century art.

There Are No Words: Si Lewen's Parade is curated by Maria Castro, The Met's Jacques and Natasha Gelman Associate Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art.

The Met will host a variety of related programs in conjunction with the installation.