Perls Galleries

1937 - 1997

Explore Selected Works

Marc Chagall, Houses at Vitebsk, 1917, oil on paper on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John U. Nef and Mr. and Mrs. William Wood Prince, 1973.7.1

Houses at Vitebsk

Marc Chagall · 1917 · oil on paper on canvas ·  Accession ID  1973.7.1

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French Poodle

Alexander Calder · c. 1952 · brass wire ·  Accession ID  2017.124.2

Royal-blue, sunshine-yellow, kelly-green, deep pink, and orange petal-like shapes and other geometric forms are arranged in a grid-like pattern against a cream-white field in this abstract, horizontal artwork. Applied to five joined, vertical canvases, the design is anchored at the center by a vertical blue pillar encasing a vertical row of four flower-like forms. Flanking the central column to either side, flowers are arranged in four rows of five blooms. Each bloom is a single, flat color, created with four cut pieces of painted paper. The arrangement of the colors vary so the flowers do not create a rigid pattern, though it seems like a pattern at first glance. The flowers are separated by clove-like forms creating X-shapes at the corner of each bloom. A stylized face takes the place of one flower near the center of each panel. Each oval face, eyes, nose, and mouth are drawn with black lines. Column-like forms in royal blue encase the composition along the left and right edges, and a row flicks like inverted commas lines the top edge. The flicks over the left half are blue and the flicks over the right half are green. The artist signed and dated the work with blue paint at the bottom right: “HM 53 53.”
Henri Matisse, Large Decoration with Masks, 1953, gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.17.1

Large Decoration with Masks

Henri Matisse · 1953 · gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on canvas ·  Accession ID  1973.17.1

Rectangular plots of flowers, each in a single color, stretch toward us below a sky nearly filled with cream-white clouds in this horizontal landscape painting. Together, the monochromatic plots create the impression of a patchwork quilt, with large areas of pale pink, butter yellow, bright white, and baby blue. A person walks across the plots to our right. The horizon line comes almost halfway up the painting and is lined with dark brown houses with tall, pitched roofs. Two barren trees twist into the cloudy sky. The loose, short, parallel brushstrokes and touches of paint create a soft, hazy effect.
Vincent van Gogh, Flower Beds in Holland, c. 1883, oil on canvas on wood, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.21

Flower Beds in Holland

Vincent van Gogh · c. 1883 · oil on canvas on wood ·  Accession ID  1983.1.21

Pierre Bonnard, A Promenade in Fancy Hats, 1891/1893, pen and brush and black ink with graphite on laid paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1995.47.22

A Promenade in Fancy Hats

Pierre Bonnard · 1891/1893 · pen and brush and black ink with graphite on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1995.47.22

Six black, wedgelike shapes, one dark blue arrowhead shape, and six red triangular shapes with rounded corners are connected with thin rods to form this abstract sculpture. In this photograph, we look up at the piece to where it hangs from the glass ceiling of a light-filled interior space with marble walls. The paddle-like shapes are attached to the end of the curved rods, which are linked together like branches. In our view, the black arm curves up across the top of the picture and the red arm curves down into the lower right corner, and to our left. Each red paddle is smaller as they move from the central armature to the end of the branch.
Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1976, aluminum and steel, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1977.76.1

Untitled

Alexander Calder · 1976 · aluminum and steel ·  Accession ID  1977.76.1

Alexander Calder, Laddered Balloons, 1971, brush and black ink with gouache on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William H. G. FitzGerald, Desmond FitzGerald, and B. Francis Saul II), 2015.19.2711

Laddered Balloons

Alexander Calder · 1971 · brush and black ink with gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.2711

Alexander Archipenko, Woman Combing Her Hair, model 1915, cast c. 1958, bronze, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1971.66.10

Woman Combing Her Hair

Alexander Archipenko · model 1915, cast c. 1958 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1971.66.10

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Birdsong (Vogelgesang)

Alexander Calder · c. 1930 · brass wire ·  Accession ID  2017.124.3

Alexander Calder, Model for East Building Mobile, 1972, aluminum, wire, and paint, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1975.114.1

Model for East Building Mobile

Alexander Calder · 1972 · aluminum, wire, and paint ·  Accession ID  1975.114.1