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THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART THE SOCIETE ANONYME COLLECTION Lent by the Yale University Art Gallery June 4 - July 1 September 6 - October 2 The Societe Anonyme was organized in 1920 to foster an interest in the new painting and sculpture of our century. The society took its self-effacing name in order to throw the spotlight on the art which it sponsored, rather than on its own activities. Yet its guiding spirits, Miss Katherine S.Drier and Marcel Duchamp, could hardly conceal the personal imprint which recorded their courage, their enthusiasm, and their preferences. The Society made itself felt through the 'twenties. In the decade preceding the founding of the Museum of Modern Art, it organized some forty exhibitions in New York, including one-man shows for Archipenko, Campendonk, Leger, Klee, Elishemius, Stella, and Villon. It was an educational institution, with many publications to its credit. The Society built up a collection to illustrate its advanced point of view. Here practically all of the trends of the period were represented: the Cubists, Villon and the more mechanistic Leger from Paris; the early Chirico from Italy; the German Fantasist, Paul Klee; the Russian Constructivists, Malevitch and Lissitzky with their absorption in pure geometric form, and the well-known Mondrian of the "Stijl" group in Holland. The Collection became the property of Yale University's Art Gallery in 1941, where it takes its place both for its broad coverage of the twentieth century and as a record of a vital and constructive effort in support of the art of our time. This constructive effort continues. The Collection's history is not concluded. From time to time new canvases are added through the generosity of donors. The Collection is still growing and living like the art it contains. So gradual is the general acceptance of the painter's vision that Miss Dreier's comment on these canvases twenty-five years ago is still relevant today. "The important ting is for the public to look on these paintings..with an open mind, permitting them to convey to the onlooker the meaning that underlies their construction. If we will have the patience, as well as the courage, to leave our preconceived ideas of art behind, we will find that our life has become enriched by the new sensations which these pictures reveal, for to live, art must enlarge its vision." 1. Joseph Albers The Gate 2. Rudolph Bauer Andante V 3. Ella Bergmann-Michel Collage 4. Heinrich Campendonk Interior with head and still life 5. Heinrich Campendonk Pastoral Scene 6. John R. Covert Brass Band 7. John R. Covert Drums 8. Giorgio De Chirico The Lovers 9. Giorgio De Chirico Metaphysical Interior 10. Arthur G. Dove Sunrise III 11. Katherine S. Dreier The Eternal Hills 12. Marcel Duchamp The Bachelors 13. Max Ernst Papillon 14. Fritz Glarner Peinture Relative 15. Marsden Hartley The Rubber Plant 16. Vassily Kandinsky Improvisation No.7 17. Vassily Kandinsky Composition: Bright Circle 18. Vassily Kandinsky The Waterfall 19. Ragnhild Keyser Composition I 20. Paul Klee Architectur rot-grune Stufung 21. Paul Klee The Ambassador of Autumn 22. Paul Klee Ground Festivals 23. Paul Klee Precious Container for Stars 24. El Lissitzky Proun 99 25. Kasmir Malevitch The Knife Grinder 26. Matta The Knife Grinder 27. Jean Metzinger The Port 28. Johannes Moizahn Immaterial Figure 29. Johannes Moizahn Curving Machine 30. Piet Mondrain Fox Trot B 31. Heinrich Nauen The Good Samaritan 32. Emil Nolde Morning in the Flower Garden 33. Papazoff Head 34. Laszlo Peri Two Rooms 35. Man Ray Promenade 36. Kurt Schwitters Relief with Red Segment 37. Kurt Schwitters Collage 38. Joseph Stella Battle of Lights, Coney Island 39. Jacques Villon In Memoriam 40. Jacques Villon Still Life