ca 1865, Giovanni Battista Gatti, Ebony, ebonized walnut, ivory inlay and glass and ivory cameos. From the placard, "A prizewinner at international expositions, Gatti specialized in decorative objects with elaborate, inlaid ivory ornament. The highly intricate technique and the motifs of grotesques, foliage, and animals were derived from Renaissance sources. Here, Gatti combined ivory portraits of the Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Perugino, with cameos of ancient philosphers and emporers. He also featured glass cameos of William and Elizabeth Gilstrap, who commissioned the panel from Gatti, possibly when they arrived in Rome in 1864 to begin extensive travel in the Near East. Gilstrap, who made his fortune in malt for beer, became an important philanthropist establishing hospitals and libraries. Gatti, whose name means cats in Italian, also included a cat's face in the center, a play on his name.
1915, Juan Gris, Oil on Paperboard. From the placard, "In this jewel-like painting, the letters "Le J" refer to Le Journal, the Paris newspaper. This might be a reminder that Gris would have been reading daily reports about WWI as he drank coffee or sipped an apertif. As a citizen of neutral Spain, he was not involved in the war. Gris had emigrated from Spain to Paris in 1906 and quickly absorbed the language of Cubism. As a result, he favored fragmented forms seen from multiple angles simultaneously.
1943, Kay Sage, Oil on Canvas. From the placard, "This painting suggests both architectural precision and frozen forms. It evokes the utter desolation of a world too soon again at war. Too Soon for Thunder was painted after the artist's return from Europe to the US following the 1939 outbreak of WWII. During the years between WWI and WWII, Sage lived in Paris. There, she was profoundly affected by Giorgio de Chirico's unsettling paintings. She also fell in love with Surrealist artist Yves Tanguy, who she later married, and embraced Surrealism.
