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Period: to
1900 - 1950
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The Thinker, Auguste Rodin
The Thinker is a nude male bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, the French progenitor of modern sculpture. Rodin has become one of the most widely known artists outside of the painting community. Most believe that The Thinker was born with Dante's Divine Comedy in mind and was to be a prominent piece in figures at The Gates of Hell. Rodin, however, decided to keep the figure alone and it has since been connected most often as depicting a man in deep contemplation. -
Flatiron Building, Daniel Burnham
Upon completion in 1902, the Flatiron Building was one of the tallest buildings in New York at 21 stories. The building capitalized on a unique piece of property that forced the shape of a clothes iron. Because of its very recognizable shape, iconic look, and prominent location, the Flatiron Building is one of the most photographed buildings in the world. It is admired for the Greek column influences and for the many newly implemented methods of construction that allowed for taller buildings. -
The Firebird, Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird is an orchestral work and ballet by famed Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The Firebird was finished in 1910, the first of three internationally acclaimed ballet performances. Stravinsky's style was reminiscent of Bach and Tchaikovsky, but has since been notable for his unique approaches and excursions from musical boundaries of the time. The Firebird became the genesis to Stravinsky's notoriety and fame as one of the most accomplished composing careers in musical history. -
I and the Village, Marc Chagall
I and the Village is a painting by the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall, famous for Euopean modernism and his ability to capture Jewish life and color. Upon relocating to Paris, Chagall began to turn Cubism inside-out and challenge the thoughts of color and shape as he brought his unique cultural style to the canvas. Although Chagall is associated with several artistic styles to include Cubism, Symbolism, and Fauvism, Chagall's unique approach can easily be recognized as his very own. -
The Little Mermaid, Edvard Eriksen
The Little Mermaid is a four-foot bronze statue in Copenhagen depicting a mermaid looking forlorn on a seaside rock. The sculpture was designed by the relatively unknown Edvard Eriksen, but he has since received world-wide fame and recognition as the popularity of mermaids has grown. The sculpture is based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, which centers on a mermaid willing to give up her long life and heritage to gain the love of a human prince, which she is never able to capture. -
Fourth Symphony, Charles Ives
Symphony No. 4 was written by Charles Ives, an American modernist composer of posthumous international fame. He has since become well known as an experimenter in music, leading to innovations of approach in 20th Century compositions. His Symphony No. 4 is known for complexity, orchestral size, and scope, which normally requires two conductors to keep the diversity of players organized. While his other works are also quite notable, this particular work is widely considered his masterpiece. -
Lincoln Memorial, Daniel Chester French
The statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial is an iconic statue of grand proportions sculpted by Daniel Chester French, also famous for his Minute Man statue in Concord, Massachusetts. The seated President Lincoln alone is 19 feet tall, sitting atop an 11-foot pedestal. The statue is finished in an American Renaissance tradition, with President Lincoln often imagined as contemplating the gravity of the Ciil War, with a determined focus of healing the nation in the aftermath. -
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, famous for his many writings involving life in the Jazz Age. The book centers on the prosperous town of West Egg and the mysterious and wealthy Jay Gatsby's obsession with Daisy Buchanan. It is widely considered to be his masterpeice, although that distinction was only recognized after his death. Since then, The Great Gatsby has become a literary classic and consistantly been nominated as the best Novel of the 20th Century. -
Bolero, Maurice Ravel
Bolero is one of the last pieces composed by Maurice Ravel, a French composer famous for masterful orchestration and Impressionistic style. Bolero is a one-movement orchestral piece, sometimes performed as a ballet, and is said to have been influenced by the Spanish dance and musical form called bolero. Between the famous feud with Arturo Toscanini, the 1934 film with Carole Lombard, and the rise of gramophone records, Bolero achieved widespread fame and notoriety within the music world. -
Barcelona Pavillion, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Barcelona Pavilion was the German Exhibition Building constructed for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, considered to be an innovative master of modern architecture along with Frank Lloyd Wright. The pavilion is known for its simple form and minimalism, heavily using exquisite materials of marble and travertine to blur the lines between inside and out. It also became quite successful in achieving the designed goal of tranquility. -
American Gothic, Grant Wood
American Gothic is a 19th Century style American painting by Grant Wood, most well known for his paintings of the rural Midwest. The painting depicts a farmer and his daughter in front of their cottage, representational of the Gothic Revival style of southern Iowa. At the onset of the Great Depression, the image came to portray steadfast American fortitude and hard work. The painting itself has achieved stratospheric fame and is recognized the world over as an icon of American cultural art. -
Christ the Redeemer, Costa/Landowski
Christ the Redeemer is a monumental Art Deco staute of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and sculpted by Paul Landowski. Gheorghe Leonida designed and sculpted the face, capping the figure. It is made of reinforced concrete, covered in soapstone, and stands 98 feet tall with a 92-foot arm stretch. At the peak of the Corcovado mountains, Jesus overlooks the city and has become an iconic symbol, not only for the Brazilian people, but for Catholics world-wide. -
Empire State Building, William F. Lamb
The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world for almost 40 years, breaking in at 103 stories and 1250 feet without the antennae. It was designed by William F. Lamb and incorporates bold Art Deco style that is now iconic to New York and America in general. It has held the destinction of being the number one architectural building in America many times over and continues to be revered world-wide for its monumental historical and architectural status. -
Absolom! Absolom!, William Faulkner
Absolom, Absolom! is a novel written by William Faulkner, famous for his southern influence, winning both the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1954 and 1962. Absolom, Absolom! is the story of three different families, but focuses on the life and times of Thomas Sutpen, a poor white man bent on achieving wealth through the Civil War and the aftermath. Arguably Faulkner's best work, in 2009, Absolom, Absolom! was judged the best Southern novel of all time. -
Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Gone with the Wind is an American novel written by Margaret Mitchell, who won the Pulitizer Prize for Fiction in 1937. Amazingly, Margaret Mitchell only had one novel published in her lifetime, but the classic Civil War tale has become one of the most iconic and identifiably American stories ever written. The book is only surpassed by the Bible in terms of literary popularity, and the unforgettable movie, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, is etched into the very fabric of our media history. -
Guernica, Pablo Picasso
Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, undoubtedly one of the most famous artists of the 20th Century, depicting the German bombing of the city of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. While Picasso had extraordinary talent in serveral types of media, he is most well known and associated with the canvas. This unique painting depicts the horrors of war, the terror of genocide, and how both forms of conflict bring suffering to the local people, the surrounding communities, and the world. -
Adagio for Strings, Samuel Barber
Adagio for Strings is a string orchestra piece written and arranged by the Amercan composer Samuel Barber, awarded the Pulitzer Prize on two occasions for his opera Vanessa and also for Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Adagio for Strings is the best-known piece from Samuel Barber and was posthumously selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry of the United States Library of Congress. -
Fallingwater House, Frank Lloyd Wright
Fallingwater House was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, famous for designing structures that are in harmony with both nature and humanity. His personal goal of organic architecture is best exemplified in Fallingwater and represents his crowning achievement of melding two worlds into perfect conformity. The home itself was built over and incorporates a waterfall, and the structure does not dominate or visually overpower the surroundings, masterfully combining both form and function. -
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath is an American cultural novel by John Steinbeck, earning him the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. John Steinbeck subsequently won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. The book centers on the Joads family, caught in the midst of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck's literary ability to capture the realistic and imaginative plight of the Joads will forever remind Americans of their rural cultural heritage and historical fortitude in the face of hardship. -
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
For whom the Bell Tolls is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1952 for The Old Man and the Sea and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. For Whom the Bell Tolls is set in the Spanish Civil War and revolves around the battle exploits of Robert Jordan, an American soldier assigned to help republican guerilla units during the war. Hemingway was famously involved in war and adventure on many fronts and it came through in magnificent form in all of his writings. -
The Temptation of St. Anthony, Salvador Dali
The Temptation of St. Anthony is a painting by Spanish artist Salvador Dali, most famous for his surrealist and bizarre works of fancy upon the canvas. Many artists throughout history have attempted to capture St. Anthony and his immortalized ascetic departure into the wilderness with the associated temptations. None, however, have quite achieved the level of dreamlike imagination that Dali depicted with his onslaught of animals and their ludicrous parade of images and religious interpretation. -
Christina's World, Andrew Wyeth
Chrsitina's World is a realist painting by Andrew Wyeth, one of the best-known American artists, famous for depicting realistic and regional mid-America. The woman depicted in the painting is Anna Christina Olson, a real-life acquaintance and polio sufferer that Wyeth observed crawling in an open field because of her malady. She was subsequently used for many other paintings, along with her brother, but this particular painting has achieved iconic status as quintessential American art.
