Defining the Century: Modern Visionaries from Picasso to Calder

Berggruen Gallery is pleased to announce Defining the Century: Modern Visionaries from Picasso to Calder, an intimate glimpse of the oeuvres of some of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition will be on view from September 10, 2026 through October 22, 2026. Berggruen Gallery will host the opening reception for the exhibition on Thursday, September 10, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. 

In response to the academicism of Europe in the early 1900s, artists turned to emotion, symbolism, and the natural world for inspiration. From innovative spatial experimentations executed by Alexander Calder, to Wassily Kandinsky's pioneering notions of color and composition, to Pablo Picasso's groundbreaking portraiture, this exhibition tells the story of visionary artists who broke from tradition, revolutionizing modernist art.

In 1907, in Paris, France, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque fragmented the canvas, showing multiple perspectives in a singular space, upending centuries-old notions of painting. In Germany, Paul Klee, who compared painting to music, syncopated the traditional use of color and line, probing a unique visual vocabulary. In the words of John Berggruen's father, Heinz:

"Picasso is a symphony; Klee chamber music."

In Spain, Joan Miró combined the quotidian and the otherworldly. Femmes devant la Lune translates Miró's perennial interest in celestial dreamscapes into abstracted cosmic figures, punctuated by intuitive marks. Wassily Kandinsky challenged how art is engaged with, believing in the ability of pure color and form to uplift the human spirit. Kandinsky's Au Milieu (In der Mitte) aggregates the components of painting, interrogating forms, lines, and color, revealing a visual language that is rebellious in its optimism. Unique in their achievements, this exhibition brings together monumental artists, providing a momentary view into the rich art historical tapestry of the twentieth century. 

Defining the Century: Modern Visionaries from Picasso to Calder features defining voices of the twentieth century whose work disrupted hegemony and collapsed fixed ideologies. Credited with major developments, these artists' pioneering legacies helped to shape an environment rich with the exchange of ideas that continues to pave the way for generations of contemporary artists.