Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy is the first exhibition to explore the pivotal contribution of Gerald and Sara Murphy to twentieth century arts and letters.

Sara and Gerald Murphy epitomized the generation that as Ezra Pound commented wanted to "Day by day make it new//Yet again make it new." For the Murphys, life itself was an artistic exercise, to be informed by discipline, a keen sense of pleasure, and aesthetic complexity. Sara and Gerald moved to France in 1921 with their three young children to carve out a life that was "fresh, new, and alive," free of the stifling social restrictions imposed by their wealthy New York families. They improvised their own brand of unconventional modernism that fostered creativity and intellectual freedom, epitomizing the Modern American to both their countrymen and those they encountered abroad. Their desire to make something beautiful and fine of their lives though "living well," creating art, and encouraging artist and writer friends, resulted in some of the most noteworthy literature, music, and art of the twentieth century.

An interdisciplinary enterprise, Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy presents not only works of art but set and costume decor, photography, music, letters, film, and a rich trove of archival material including home movies and audio reminiscences. Gerald Murphy’s seven existing paintings will be but one aspect of a project examining the Murphys in the context of the circle of artistic and literary moderns that flourished around them in Paris and the Riviera in the 1920s and 1930s. Work by the Murphys' circle of friends, including Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Georges Braque, Le Corbusier, Man Ray, Archibald MacLeish, Cole Porter, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, and Philip Barry is viewed through the nexus of the Murphys’ artistically adventurous yet gracious milieu. Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy addresses the issue of American identity abroad and the Euro-American dialogue so important to twentieth century modernism: the Murphys’ status as progressive moderns was tied to both their American-ness and their role as transcontinental intermediaries, who moved back and forth across the Atlantic bringing the latest products and ideas from one culture to another.  

Two short documentary films created for the exhibition allow visitors to experience the special magic of the Murphys’ way of life through audio and video reminiscences, excerpts of scores for ballets and shows, home movies and photographs.

At the heart of the exhibition is Gerald and Sara Murphys’ gift for weaving together aesthetics and camaraderie in their daily life.  Curated by Deborah Rothschild, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, this exhibition has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life; the Terra Foundation for American Art; the Getty Foundation; and the Dedalus Foundation, Inc.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

After opening at the Williams College Museum of Art, the exhibition will travel to Yale University Art Gallery (February 26-May 4, 2008) and to the Dallas Museum of Art (June 8-September 14, 2008).

Making It New The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy Edited by Deborah Rothschild With an Introductory Essay by Calvin Tomkins Click here to order from University of California Press