Editing 1940 in art

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{{Year nav topic5|1940|art}}

Events from the year '''1940 in art'''.

==Events==
* February – The series of '[[British propaganda during World War II#Careless talk costs lives|Careless Talk Costs Lives]]' [[propaganda]] [[poster]]s by '[[Fougasse (cartoonist)|Fougasse]]' is published by the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)]].
* March – The [[Tartu Art Museum]] is officially established in [[Tartu]], [[Estonia]]; its first exhibition is opened in November 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tartmus.ee/en/tickets/ajalugu/|title = History}}</ref><ref>[https://agenda.ge/en/news/2016/689 Estonia’s famous "leaning house" displays Georgian artists’ work] – Agenda.ge</ref>
* July – The [[Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce]] (''Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg'') of the [[Nazi Party]] begins its task of appropriating cultural property from occupied territories, initially in France.
* October – [[Grandma Moses]]' second solo exhibition, "What a Farm Wife Painted", opens at Otto Kallir's Galerie Saint-Etienne in [[New York City]].
* [[November 3]] – The [[War Artists' Advisory Committee]] of the U.K. Ministry of Information opens its first exhibition of ''War Pictures by British Artists'' to the public at the otherwise-evacuated [[National Gallery]] in London.
* [[November 13]] – Release of [[Walt Disney]]'s [[Traditional animation|animated]] movie ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'' in the [[United States]].
* [[December 8]] – Mexican painters [[Frida Kahlo]] and [[Diego Rivera]] remarry in [[San Francisco]] (U.S.)
* [[Cecil Beaton]] is among the photographers commissioned by the U.K. Ministry of Information to undertake [[war photography]].
* [[Xawery Dunikowski]] is deported to [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], where he survives until 1945.
* [[Jacques Lipchitz]] flees France for the United States.
* [[Henry Moore]] is commissioned as a [[war artist]] and produces drawings of Londoners sleeping in the [[London Underground]] while sheltering from [[The Blitz]].
* [[Anthony Blunt]]'s ''Artistic Theory in Italy 1450–1600'' is published. This year he is recruited to work for [[MI5]] while simultaneously spying for the [[NKVD]].

==Awards==
* [[Archibald Prize]]: [[Max Meldrum]] – ''Dr J Forbes McKenzie''

==Works==
===Paintings===
* [[Vanessa Bell]] – ''[[Leonard Woolf]]''
* [[Pierre Bonnard]] – ''Oranges et Kakis'' (c.)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sothebys.com/buy/dcb89d4a-5ee3-473c-82fe-c9f834ec8ec6/lots/1dab5a92-1857-4cbc-a429-3bb6d2956227 | title=Oranges et kakis &#124; Modern Evening Auction &#124; 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Clive Branson]] – ''Noreen and Rosa''
* [[Howard Chandler Christy]] – ''[[Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States]]''
* [[Charles Cundall]] – ''[[:File:The Withdrawal from Dunkirk, June 1940 Art.IWMARTLD305.jpg|The Withdrawal from Dunkirk, June 1940]]''
* [[Salvador Dalí]]
** ''[[The Face of War]]''
** ''[[Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire]]''
* 'Fougasse' – ''Careless Talk Costs Lives'' (propaganda posters)
* [[Jared French]] – ''Glenway Wescott'', ''George Platt Lynes'', ''Monroe Wheeler'' (series of nude portraits)
* [[Jesús Guerrero Galván]] – ''Head of a Woman''
* [[Edward Hopper]]
** ''[[Gas (painting)|Gas]]''
** ''[[Office at Night]]''
* Frida Kahlo
** ''[http://www.fridakahlo.org/the-dream-the-bed.jsp The Dream]''
** ''[http://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-dedicated-to-dr-eloesser.jsp Self-Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser]''
** ''[http://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-cropped-hair.jsp Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair]''
** ''[http://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-a-monkey.jsp Self-Portrait with Monkey]''
** ''[[Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird]]''
** ''[[The Wounded Table]]''
* [[Raymond McGrath]] – ''[[:File:Training - Aircraft Under Construction (1940) (Art.IWM ART LD65).jpg|Training Aircraft Under Construction]]''
* [[Conroy Maddox]] – ''[[:File:Maddox, The Strange Country.jpg|The Strange Country]]''
* [[Henri Matisse]]
** ''[[La Blouse Roumaine]]''
** ''Le Rêve de 1940''
* [[Roberto Matta]] – ''Dark Light''
* [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]]
** ''Interior of Coventry Cathedral, November 15th, 1940''
** ''[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21807 The Passage to the Control-room at South West Regional Headquarters, Bristol]''
** ''[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/piper-st-mary-le-port-bristol-n05718/text-catalogue-entry St Mary le Port, Bristol]''
* [[Candido Portinari]] – ''Seascape''
* [[Eric Ravilious]] – [[Watercolour]]s
** ''[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/22457 A Warship in Dock]''
** ''[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ravilious-submarines-in-dry-dock-n05722 Submarines in Dry Dock]''
** ''Ship's Screw on a Railway Truck''
** ''[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ravilious-midnight-sun-n05723 Midnight Sun]''
* [[Charles Sheeler]]
** ''Bucks County Barn''
** ''Fugue''
** ''Interior''
* [[Situ Qiao]] – ''[[:File:Put Down Your Whip by Situ Qiao.jpg|Put Down Your Whip]]''
* [[Graham Sutherland]]
** ''[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-black-landscape-t03085 Black Landscape]''
** ''[[:File:Devastation, 1940 AHouse on the Welsh Border by Graham Sutherland (Tate N05734).jpg|Devastation, 1940: A House on the Welsh Border]]''
* [[H. J. Ward|Hugh J. Ward]] – Portrait of [[Superman]] ([[Lehman College]])
* [[Carel Willink]] – ''[[Wilma with Cat]]''
* [[Grant Wood]] – ''[[Sentimental Ballad (painting)|Sentimental Ballad]]''

===Photographs===
* Herbert Mason – ''[[St Paul's Survives]]''
* [[Nickolas Muray]] – ''Soldiers of the Sky''

===Sculptures===
{{See also|Category:1940 sculptures}}
* [[Eric Aumonier]] – ''[[:File:East Finchley Stn statue.JPG|The Archer]]'' ([[East Finchley tube station]], [[London Passenger Transport Board]])
* [[Carl Milles]] – ''The Wedding of the Waters'' (fountain, [[St. Louis, Missouri]])
* [[Isamu Noguchi]] – ''News'' ([[stainless steel]] [[bas-relief]], [[Rockefeller Center]], New York)
* [[Attilio Piccirilli]] – ''[[Guglielmo Marconi (Piccirilli)|Guglielmo Marconi]]'' (bronze, [[Washington, D.C.]])
* José Ângelo Cottinelli Telmo (architect) and Leopoldo de Almeida (sculptor) – ''[[Padrão dos Descobrimentos]]'' (temporary version)

==Exhibitions==
* ''Saved from Europe'' at [[Galerie St. Etienne]] in New York City<ref>{{Cite web |title=not found |url=https://www.artdependence.com/articles/centerpiece-of-gustav-klimts-first-exhibition-in-america-insel-im-attersee-to-make-auction-debut-at-sothebys-this-may/ |access-date=August 26, 2024 |website=www.artdependence.com}}</ref>

==Births==
* January – [[Anthony d'Offay]], [[British people|British]] art dealer
* [[January 2]] – [[Peter Young (artist)|Peter Young]], [[Americans|American]] [[Painting|painter]]
* [[January 6]] – [[John Byrne (Scottish playwright)|John Byrne]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] painter and writer
* [[January 24]]
** [[Vito Acconci]], American conceptual artist, installation artist, performance artist and filmmaker (d. [[2017 in art|2017]])
** [[Mel Bochner]], American conceptual artist (d. [[2025 in art|2025]])
* [[February 22]] – [[Billy Name]], born William Linich Jr., American [[photographer]], collaborator with Andy Warhol
* [[March 7]] – [[Hannah Wilke]], American painter, [[sculptor]] and photographer (d. [[1993 in art|1993]])
* [[March 9]] -  [[Giancarlo Impiglia]], Italian born Italian-American painter
* [[March 20]] – [[Mary Ellen Mark]], American photographer (d. [[2015 in art|2015]])
* [[April 11]] – [[Marcia Tucker]], American museum curator (d. [[2006 in art|2006]])
* [[April 16]] – [[Joan Snyder]], American painter
* [[April 30]] – [[Burt Young]], born Gerald DeLouise, American actor, painter, and author (d.   [[2023 in art|2023]])
* [[May 1]] – [[Elsa Peretti]], Italian jewelry designer (d. [[2021 in art|2021]])
* [[May 11]] – [[Juan Downey]], Chilean-American video artist (d. 1993)
* [[May 25]] – [[Nobuyoshi Araki]], Japanese photographer
* [[June 17]] – [[Alton Kelley]], American poster and album artist (d. [[2008 in art|2008]])
* [[July 5]] – [[Chuck Close]], American "photorealistic" painter (d. 2021)
* [[July 27]] – [[Pina Bausch]], German neo-expressionist choreographer and dancer (d. [[2009 in art|2009]])
* [[August 23]] – [[Galen Rowell]], American wilderness photographer (d. [[2002 in art|2002]])
* [[September 6]] – [[Elizabeth Murray (artist)|Elizabeth Murray]], American painter, [[printmaker]] and [[Drawing|draughtsman]] (d. [[2007 in art|2007]])
* [[September 10]] – [[David Mann (artist)|David Mann]], American painter
* [[September 26]] – [[Arno Rink]], German painter and professor (d. [[2017 in art|2017]])
* [[September 27]] – [[Rudolph Moshammer]], [[Germans|German]] fashion designer (d. [[2005 in art|2005]])
* [[October 22]] – [[Ashley Jackson (artist)|Ashley Jackson]], Malaysian-born [[Yorkshire]] landscape watercolourist
* ''date unknown''
** [[Germano Celant]], Italian art critic, curator and historian (d. [[2020 in art|2020]])
** [[Stevan Knežević]], [[Serbian people|Serbian]] painter, sculptor and professor of art (d. [[1995 in art|1995]])
** [[Anthony McCall]], British-born American avant-garde installation artist, projected film
** [[Dušan Otašević]], Serbian painter and sculptor
** [[Jaune Quick-to-See Smith]], [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] painter and printmaker ** [[Mel Bochner]], American conceptual artist (d. [[2025 in art|2025]])

==Deaths==
* [[January 18]] – [[Jonas Lie (painter)|Jonas Lie]], Norwegian American landscape painter (b. [[1880 in art|1880]])
* [[February 11]] – [[Ellen Day Hale]], American painter and printmaker (b. [[1855 in art|1855]])
* [[February 27]] – [[Nicolae Tonitza]], Romanian painter and etcher (b. [[1886 in art|1886]])
* [[March 16]] – [[Iso Rae]], Australian Impressionist painter (b. [[1860 in art|1860]])
* [[April 15]] – [[Alexandru Plămădeală]], Moldovan sculptor (b. [[1888 in art|1888]])
* [[May 13]] - [[Henry Charles Fehr]], British sculptor (b. [[1867 in art|1867]])
* [[June 21]] – [[Édouard Vuillard]], French painter (b. [[1868 in art|1868]])
* [[June 29]] – [[Paul Klee]], Swiss painter [[expressionism]], [[cubism]], and [[surrealism]] (b. [[1879 in art|1879]])
* [[July 4]] – [[Józef Pankiewicz]], Polish painter, graphic artist and teacher (b. [[1866 in art|1866]])
* [[July 28]] – [[Gerda Wegener]], Danish artist (b. 1886)
* [[July 31]] – [[Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler]], German avant-garde painter, by [[involuntary euthanasia]] (b. [[1899 in art|1899]])
* [[August 22]] – [[Paul Gösch]], German artist and architect (b. [[1885 in art|1885]])
* [[September 5]] – [[Frances Darlington]], English relief sculpture (b. 1880)
* [[September 15]] – [[Dick Ket]], Dutch painter (b. [[1902 in art|1902]])
* [[September 27]] – [[Walter Benjamin]], German philosopher, "[[Comparative literature|comparatist]]" and art critic (b. [[1892 in art|1892]])
* [[October 15]] – [[Karl Uchermann]], Norwegian canine painter (b. 1855)
* [[November 16]] – [[Colin Gill]], [[English people|English]] war artist, muralist and portrait painter (b. 1892).
* [[November 17]] – [[Eric Gill]], English sculptor and engraver (b. [[1882 in art|1882]])
* ''date unknown'' – [[Francesco Stella]], Italian painter and set designer (b. [[1862 in art|1862]])

==See also==
* [[1940 in fine arts of the Soviet Union]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1940 In Art}}
[[Category:1940 in art| ]]
[[Category:Years of the 20th century in art]]
[[Category:1940s in art]]