Direct Carving in Modern Sculpture: Selections from the Museum Collection

On view were 38 pieces that focused on a sculptural technique in which a figure is cut or hewn in wood or stone rather than modeled in clay. The technique is also known as taille directe (“tie-ya direct”). The artists who worked in these media believed that carving was more appropriate to Modernist ideals and together formed part of a cohesive movement from 1890 to 1940. Nineteen artists were represented, including Alexander Archipenko, Constantin Brancusi, José de Creeft, Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Gross, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Marina Núñez del Prado, and Ossip Zadkine.