videos + essays
Dada’s “Approximate Man”: A Portrait of Tristan Tzara by Marcel Janco
This mask is a rare document of the Dada movement and an embodiment of the so-called “approximate man.”
Egon Schiele, Seated Male Nude (Self-Portrait)
The body’s expressive contortions reflect sculptural tradition, but Schiele used it to express the interior self.
Egon Schiele, The Hermits
Is Schiele’s haunted figure meant to be a famed Austrian artist or Jesus Christ—or both?
August Sander, Portraits
Sander documented German people from all walks of life, but the goals of his project remain unclear.
Christian Schad, Self-Portrait
Unusually, two figures make up this self-portrait, which is all sexuality but no passion.
Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Gertrude Stein
Picasso began his love affair with Gertrude Stein’s bank account when he learned of her support for Matisse.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait As a Soldier
Kirchner is rendered unable to create or destroy in this nightmarish wartime painting.
