From 18 September 2026
Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20th Century Gallery, Floor 3
Explore radical new approaches to painting in the first half of the 20th century
Modern Painting from the Courtauld and Reuben Collections features a selection of outstanding works by Cézanne, Modigliani, Léger, Picasso, Magritte, and others.
Highlights on display include early 20th century paintings from the Courtauld’s collection, including Paul Cezanne’s Turning Road (1905), a landscape conjured through near-abstract patches of colour, and Amedeo Modigliani’s Nude (c.1916), a painting that upended conventional approaches to the subject of the female nude.
These set the stage for works from the Reuben Collection by artists who charted new directions, including Cubist paintings by Fernard Léger and Man Ray’s monumental Black Widow [Earlier titled Invention-Nativity and Nativity], 1915, last exhibited in the UK more than 50 years ago
A group of paintings by Pablo Picasso, including two portraits of his partners, Portrait of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse in a Blue Beret), 1937, and Head of a Woman (Dora Maar), 1939, will be shown alongside his remarkable Still Life with Basket of Fruits and Flowers (1942).
The Reuben Collection holds a significant collection of works by the Surrealist artist René Magritte, including L’empire des lumières (The Dominion of Light) and L’ami intime (The Intimate Friend). Both date from the 1950s and are characteristically elusive juxtapositions that offer the promise of new and unexpected meanings.
The Courtauld’s long-term partnership with the Reuben Foundation, launched in 2025, enables works of art from the Reuben Collection to be made available to the public as part of the Courtauld Gallery’s displays.
This display is included in the Permanent Collection or Permanent Collection + Exhibition ticket.
Highlights
