Met’s World War I Exhibit Highlights a Harrowing Era

With decades at the helm of major oil, natural gas, and mineral companies in the Oklahoma City area, Duke Ligon is a prominent business executive, attorney, and patron of the arts. He has made significant contributions to local and national arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Duke Ligon continues to serve on the museum’s Major Gifts Committee, assisting with long-range planning and development. 

Among the Met’s recent exhibits is one dealing with the artistic legacy of World War I. On view from summer 2017 through the first week of the New Year, “World War I and the Visual Arts” commemorates the Great War’s centenary by showcasing a chronological record of the ways artists came to grips with the war’s devastation of their societies.

The Met’s own collections supply most of the works in the exhibit, which encompasses book illustrations, patriotic posters and prints, photos, drawings, and other materials. The international group of artists included worked in a variety of media and responded to the war with a variety of attitudes, from enthusiastic support to deep pessimism. 

German Dada artist George Grosz, known for his biting social critiques, is among the best-known artists included in the exhibit. The European-born American photographer Edward Steichen, a major influence on photographers to this day, is another.