So the Missus and I trundled up to Andover yesterday to catch the American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, De Kooning, and Their Circle, 1927-1942 at the Addison Gallery of American Art.

And it’s a corker.

John Graham, Stuart Davis, and Arshile Gorky were the “Three Musketeers” of American modernism in the first half of the 20th century. Willem de Kooning became the D’Artagnan of the tight-knit circle, which also included David Smith, Jackson Pollack, Edgar Levy, Jan Matulka, and others.

Representative samples:

Graham’s 1929 Table Top Still Life with Bird

Edgar Levy’s 1938 Figure in Yellow Window

David Smith’s 1939 Structure of Arches

Go see the rest. They’re well worth the trip.