One of the most fascinating chapters in the history of modern architecture, when architects began responding to the process of urbanization in the early years of the 20th century, is being examined in a new exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art entitled “Modernity and the City.” It was the birth of the skyscraper, and when architects began reacting to the change in the urban life, seeking to represent the new metropolis and its spirit in new architectural vocabularies. This exhibition brings together prints and drawings that manifest early Modernism and Expressionist architecture by such artists as Fernand Léger, Kazimir Malevich, Lyonel Feininger, and El Lissitzy. They captured the impact of industrialization on urban life in their art, manifesting such emblems of early urbanization as neon signs, speed, and industry, all perceived as symbolizing modern life. Above: Lyonel Feininger, Mansion at the Beach (Villa am Strand), 1921 (Woodcut).
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, Russian, 1878 – 1935 Portrait of a Builder (Portret Stroitelia Usovershenstvovan), 1913 Lithograph
James Burr, British, born 1926 Houses—Paris, n.d. Etching
Fernand Léger, French, 1881 – 1955 Man in the City, from the series The City, 1959 Lithograph
El Lissitzky, Russian, 1890 – 1941 Untitled, 1923 Lithograph