Human Abstract (Seated Figure)

Walkowitz was closely associated with Alfred Stieglitz's circle and the 291 gallery, which was the first American gallery to show works by Picasso, Rodin, and Matisse. He was a prolific draftsman, and in his drawings he oscillated between the figure, often nude, and more abstract works such as this one, in which the influence of Cubism is apparent. He said, "I do not avoid objectivity nor seek subjectivity, but try to find an equivalent for whatever is the effect of my relation to a thing, or to an afterthought of it. I am seeking to attune my art to what I feel to be the keynote of an experience." This was one of the first twentieth-century works to enter the Morgan's collection. It belonged to the Morgan's first director, Belle da Costa Greene.