Si Lewen (American 1918–2016). The Parade (detail), ca. 1950. Manufactured charcoal, pencil, crayon, ink, scratching, and hand applied gesso on paperboard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Estate of Louise Graham, Lila Acheson Wallace and Mark Fisch and Jessica Kayll Gifts, 2024. Image Courtesy the Estate of Si Lewen and James Cohan, New York.
NEW YORK, NY.—
This fall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents The Parade (ca. 1950), a work comprised of 63 drawings by Polish-born artist Si Lewen (1918–2016). On view from October 1, 2026, through January 5, 2027, the presentation is the first public exhibition of the work since the Museum acquired it in 2024. Created in the years following World War II, the epic sequence of charcoal, pencil, and ink drawings is informed by Lewen's extraordinary life. Born in Poland to Jewish parents and raised in Germany, Lewen fled Nazi persecution with his family in 1933, spending a brief period in France before immigrating to the United States. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army as one of the Ritchie Boys, a specialized unit of German-speaking soldiers. After seeing action in Normandy, he was present at Buchenwald concentration camp shortly after its liberation in 1945, experiences that shaped The Parade into a powerful meditation on war, memory, and the human condition.
"The Parade is a remarkable achievement of 20th-century art that is at once deeply personal and profoundly charged," said Max Hollein, The Met's Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. "It is a major acquisition for The Met, ensuring that Si Lewen's uniquely moving, enormously relevant, and extraordinarily engaging work can reach a wider public and speak with renewed urgency, especially during these challenging times. As we look toward the future of the Museum's modern and contemporary art program in our new Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, opening in 2030, we remain committed to expanding the stories of modern art by bringing artists like Lewen to wider recognition."
The exhibition's title, There Are No Words: Si Lewen's Parade, recalls Lewen's own description of his work. Inspired by the wordless novels of modernist printmakers such as Frans Masereel, Lewen explained, "there are no words...just the picture itself is the narrative." At the same time, the title reflects h...
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 - August 27, 1965), was an architect, designer, urbanist, and writer, famous for being one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India and America. He was a pioneer in studies of modern high design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. Le Corbusier adopted his pseudonym in the 1920s, allegedly deriving it in part from the name of a distant ancestor, "Lecorbésier." He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal and AIA Gold Medal in 1961. In this image: French architect Georges Le Corbusier, left, and French writer Jules Romains are shown during a session of the conference of artists from around the world in the Palace of the Doges in Venice, Italy, in Sept. 1952.
