The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America presents highlights of European and American art dating primarily from 1920 to 1940 by major artists including Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joseph Stella, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, Kurt Schwitters, and Joseph Albers. The nearly 200 objects in this exhibition, in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery, were once held by the legendary Société Anonyme, America’s first “experimental museum” for modern art.

Established in April 1920 by Katherine Dreier and artists Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, the Société Anonyme promoted contemporary art to American audiences by organizing exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, and lectures. From their efforts, a collection was built that was transferred to Yale in 1941. Today it includes over one thousand European and American paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures.

The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America was organized by Yale University Art Gallery and supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support by Yale alumni and friends.


Location: Ingram Gallery


2007 Platinum Sponsor:     

2007 Gold Sponsor: 


Design Sponsor: 

This exhibition is supported by The HCA Foundation on behalf of HCA and the TriStar Family of Hospitals.

Image (above): Katherine Sophie Dreier, Two Worlds (Zwei Welten), 1930. Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 36 1/8 in. (71.8 x 91.7 cm). Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Collection Société Anonyme

Image (right): Artist unknown, Société Anonyme Inc. Signboard, n. d. Paint on panel. Yale University Art Gallery