Exhibition from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art features late career works
Innovation in art is often characterized as a singular event—a bolt of lightning that strikes once and forever changes the course of what follows. This installation provides an alternative view: by chronicling the continual experimentation of artists long after their breakthrough moments, it suggests that invention results from sustained critical thinking, persistent observation, and countless hours in the studio. The artists presented here, broad-ranging in background and approach, are united in their ability to produce rigorous and inspiring work, year after year, across decades. These galleries feature works from the second half of the twentieth century. Rather than showing artists’ early efforts, we visit them later in their careers. Familiar names—Louise Bourgeois, Philip Guston, Jasper Johns, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Andy Warhol, among others— are represented through less familiar works. Also present are key works by figures who may be less well-known. Al