A self-taught writer, painter and printmaker, Ryan took up her preferred medium, collage, only at the age of 58. Though she died a mere six years later, she managed to create approximately 400 examples, mostly in a diminutive scale. Ryan’s conversion to collage was prompted by a visit in 1948 to an exhibition in New York of the recently deceased German poet, sculptor and collagist, Kurt Schwitters. Ryan collected a variety of fabrics, preferably worn, even tattered or frayed, and combined these fragments with other ephemeral materials, such as torn paper, foil or cellophane, into compact, subtly textured arrangements.
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Inscription: Signed and inscribed (lower right): A. Ryan; (lower left, under pasted paper): A. Ryan; (verso): 319
the artist, New York (1949–d. 1954); her daughter, Elizabeth McFadden, Warwick, N. Y. (1954–d. 1986; her bequest to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Collages and Prints by Anne Ryan," October 18, 1988–January 29, 1989, no catalogue.
New York. Washburn Gallery. "Anne Ryan: A Centennial," October 3–November 4, 1989, unnum. brochure (front cover).
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 26–April 4, 1993, no. 47.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 4–September 12, 1993, extended to November 7, 1993, no. 47.
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. "Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper, Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11–June 4, 1995, no. 65.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Prismatic Eye: Collages by Anne Ryan, 1948-54," June 4–September 6, 2010, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paper Trails: Selected Works from the Collection, 1934–2001," July 19–November 27, 2011, no catalogue.
Katonah, N.Y. Katonah Museum of Art. "Sparkling Amazons: Abstract Expressionist Women of the 9th St. Show," October 6, 2019–January 26, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 59).
Holland Cotter. "Abstract Expressionism: The Lighter, Quieter Side." New York Times (June 4, 1993), p. C24.
Claudine Armand. Anne Ryan: Collages. Exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain. Giverny, 2001, pp. 16, 54, 62, fig. 13 (color).
Michele Wije inSparkling Amazons: Abstract Expressionist Women of the 9th St. Show. Ed. Michele Wije. Exh. cat., Katonah Museum of Art. Katonah, N.Y., 2019, pp. 58, 102, ill. (color) pp. 59, 102.
Anne Ryan (American, Hoboken, New Jersey 1889–1954 Morristown, New Jersey)
1948
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