Vincent van Gogh, La Maison de la Crau, 1888. Oil On Canvas, 32 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. , 83.19 x 73.03 x 8.89 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

BENTONVILLE , Arkansas - Crystal Bridges Museum of American announces the opening of Van Gogh to Rothko: Masterworks from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, on view  February 21 through June 1, 2015. The exhibition brings together 76 artworks by 73 influential artists from the late 19th century to the present, including Vincent van Gogh, Joán Miró, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Mark Rothko. The works were selected from the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, one of the finest collections of 20th century art in the country. General admission to the temporary exhibition is $10 and free to Members and youth under 18 years old.

“Crystal Bridges is one of only four venues to host the exhibition and we’re delighted to provide visitors a rare opportunity to share the gallery with some of the most prominent figures in art history.  Albright-Knox is one of the oldest collecting institutions in the country—we’re grateful, as one of the youngest, to share these stunning works that helped shape the story of American art.” says Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges Executive Director.

Van Gogh to Rothko explores the development of major art movements that shaped the course of modern art and marks the first time many of these works have toured in decades. The works have been arranged in chronological order by art movements, allowing visitors to follow the development of styles as they move through the gallery.

Beginning with Post-Impressionism, Vincent van Gogh’s painting La Maison de la Crau, 1888, shows that artists were less concerned with naturalistic representation. Instead, they conveyed personal and emotional responses to subjects. The exhibition then moves to Cubism with three-dimensional objects depicted on two dimensional surfaces, breaking objects up into basic geometric shapes, or creating images in a collage-style, as seen with Juan Gris, Le Canigou, 1921.  

Van Gogh to Rothko also features Surrealism, which sought to unlock the unconscious mind and called upon Freudian methods of free association, seen with Joan Miro’s Carnaval d’Arlequin, 1924-25. The most significant representation in the exhibition is approximately 20 mid-century American artists, many whom identified as Abstract Expressionists, including Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Robert Motherwell, and Jackson Pollock. 

Joán Miró, Carnaval d'Arlequin, 1924-1925. Oil on canvas, 36 3/4 in. × 47 in. × 3 1/2 in. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1940. © 2014 Successió Miró S.L. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

“Abstract Expressionism signals a radical new direction, and begins to shift the focus of the art world to American art. Jackson Pollock’s Convergence (1952), is the centerpiece of the exhibition as an 8 x 13 foot example of his revolutionary drip paintings,” says Crystal Bridges Curator Manuela Well-Off-Man, who curated the exhibition’s installation at Crystal Bridges. 

Jackson Pollock, 'Convergence’ (1952)  © 2014 Pollock-Krasner Foundation/ Artists Rights Society, New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan

From the Abstract Expressionists, the exhibition moves to Pop Art. Born from postwar-America’s economic boom, the movement embraced the visual language of mass culture and consumerism seen in Andy Warhol’s 100 Cans, 1962, leading to Op Art with artists such as Bridget Riley and her painting Sequel, 1975, using optical effects often based on geometric abstraction to create illusions. 

“This exhibition shows the strength of female artists including Bridget Riley, Lee Krasner, and Georgia O’Keeffe,” Well-Off-Man said. “Although many women artists of the time were overlooked, Albright-Knox’s collection demonstrates their work holds up next to the work of their male peers.” 

Claude Monet, Chemin de halage à Argenteuil, ca.1875. Oil On Canvas; overall: 32 1/2 x 48 1/4 x 4 inches; overall: 82.55 x 122.56 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939. 1919:8. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Camille Pissarro, Peasants in the Fields, Eragny, 1890. Oil On Canvas, 34 1/4 x 40 1/2 x 4 1/2 in, 87 x 102.9 x 11.4 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of A. Conger Goodyear, 1940. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Paul Gauguin, Spirit of the Dead Watching, 1892. Oil On Burlap Mounted On Canvas, 45 11/16 x 53 x 5 1/4 in, 116.05 x 134.62 x 13.34 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. A. Conger Goodyear Collection, 1965. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Pablo Picasso, La Toilette, 1906. Oil On Canvas, 68 x 48 x 4 in, 172.72 x 121.92 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Fellows for Life Fund, 1926 © 2012 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society, New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Henri Rousseau, Flowers in a Vase, 1909. Oil On Canvas, 26 1/2 x 21 5/8 x 3 in, 67.3 x 54.9 x 7.6 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Pablo Picasso, Nude Figure, Late Spring, 1910. Oil On Canvas, 39 x 30 in, 99.1 x 78.1 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. General Purchase Funds, 1954 © Succession Picasso. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Giacomo Balla, Dinamismo di un Cane al Guinzaglio, 1912. Oil on canvas, 37 5/8 × 45 1/2 × 2 5/8 in. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear and Gift of George F. Goodyear, 1964. © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Robert Delaunay, 'Soleil, Tour, Aéroplane', 1913. Oil On Canvas; overall: 61 3/4 x 61 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches; overall: 156.85 cm x 156.85cm x 8.26 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1964:14. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Vassily Kandinsky, Fragment 2 for Composition VII, 1913. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Oil On Canvas, 45 3/8 x 50 1/8 x 3 in., 115.25 x 127.32 x 7.62 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1947 © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Amedeo Modigliani, La Jeune bonne, ca. 1918. Oil On Canvas; overall: 68 3/4 x 32 1/4 x 4 inches; overall: 174.6 x 81.9 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939. RCA1939:6. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Arthur Garfield Dove, Fields of Grain as Seen from Train, 1931. Oil On Canvas, 33 1/4 x 43 1/4 x 4 1/4 in., 84.455 x 109.855 x 10.795 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958 © the estate of Arthur G. Dove, courtesy Terry Dintenfass, Inc. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Monkey, 1938.Oil On Masonite, 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1 1/2 in., 49.53 x 39.37 x 3.81 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966 © 2014 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Henri Matisse, La Musique, 1939. Oil On Canvas, 55 x 55 x 4 in. 139.7 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1940 © 2011 Succession H. Matisse, Paris / Artists Rights Society, New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Helen Frankenthaler, Tutti-Frutti, 1966. Acrylic On Canvas, 116 3/4 x 69 in., 296.545 x 175.26 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1976, 1976.008 © 2014 Helen Frankenthaler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow, 1956. Oil On Canvas, 93 1/2 x 73 1/2 x 2 3/4 in, 237.5 x 186.7 x 7 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1956. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Tom Loonan.