Between 1870 and 1914, the second wave of the Industrial Revolution brought changes that would have been difficult to imagine in earlier centuries. Cars, airplanes, and integrated electrical grids transformed urban environments. These advances in technology stimulated art production in new and exciting ways. This exhibition brings together prints and drawings by European artists, such as Fernand Léger, Kazimir Malevich, Lyonel Feininger, and El Lissitzy, who captured the impact of industrialization on urban life in the early 20th century. Subjects such as power lines, neon signs, and factories became emblems of the speed and dynamism associated with modern life. Working in a variety of innovative styles that range from representational to abstract, these artists underscored the modernity of their subjects by adopting unique artistic philosophies.
Focus Installation
Admission is FREE.
Images: James Burr, Houses—Paris, n.d., Etching, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg, 1956.22; Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, Portrait of a Builder (Portret Stroitelia Usovershenstvovan), 1913, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, The Art Museum League Fund in honor of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark, 1978.69.2; El Lissitzky, Untitled, 1923, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mrs. James H. Clark, 1991.359.3.FA; Lyonel Feininger, Mansion at the Beach (Villa am Strand), 1921, Woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Stuart Gordon Johnson by exchange; General Acquisitions Fund; and The Patsy Lacy Griffith Collect, 2003.42.1; Fernand Léger, French, Man in the City, from the series The City, 1959, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Bill Booziotis, 2016.66.2