A work made of lithograph in black on off-white china paper laid down on ivory wove paper.

The Celestial Art, 1894

Odilon Redon

Black glazed terracotta vessel with a short, curved handle on one side. Visible cracks indicate fragmentary repair.

Mug, about 460 BCE

Ancient Greek

A work made of gelatin silver print.

Sightseers View Paintings at Tretyakov Art Gallery, Moscow, c. 1955, printed 1950/59

Henri Cartier-Bresson

A ceramic vessel with a long handle, its bone-white surface decorated with black geometric designs.

Dipper or Ladle with Interlocking Zigzag and Step-Fret Designs, 1000–1300

Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi)

Portrait of a woman in white with a bonnet perched on an architectural feature painting something to her right, a spouting water fountain, greenery, and a an ornate, low white fence behind her. Beside her, a man leans back, eying the canvas.

The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907

John Singer Sargent

A work made of the reflecting pool, 1977-79, 6:58 min.; moonblood, 1977-79, 12:48 min.; silent life, 1979, 13:14 min.; ancient of days, 1979-81, 12:21 min.; vegetable memory, 1978-80, 15:13 min. color video, sound (projection); 62 min. loop.

The Reflecting Pool: Collected Works, 1977–80

Bill Viola

A work made of mahogany and white pine, with mahogany, birch, and maple veneers.

Cylinder Desk and Bookcase, 1800–10

Artist unknown

In a stark desert landscape, an older man sits in the foreground, illuminated, with a newspaper. Arranged evenly across the land behind him, smaller than perspective would indicate, are a faded child holding a hula hoop, a man holding a melting piano, a standing woman, and a figure near the horizon.

A Chemist Lifting with Extreme Precaution the Cuticle of a Grand Piano, 1936

Salvador Dalí

A rectangular painting on light, vivid orange features a deeper orange block set atop a yellow block. The colors of each element are only loosely blended and lightly applied, so various tones are visible.

Untitled (Painting), 1953/54

Mark Rothko

Abstract painting with dominant red, yellow, and blue tones. Densely commingled forms, many outlined in black or brown strokes, fill the canvas.

The Key, 1946

Jackson Pollock

A work made of gilt copper, champlevé enamel over wood core.

Reliquary Casket, c. 1200

A work made of lithograph with hand-coloring on cut and embossed ivory wove paper (lace).

Thou Art the Star that Guides Me (valentine), c. 1840

Joseph Addenbrooke

A wide-mouthed drinking cup glazed in black with two handles extending from opposite sides.

Skyphos (Drinking Cup), 410-400 BCE

Ancient Greek

A work made of pen and black ink and brush and black and gray wash, heightened with white gouache, over graphite, on tan wood-pulp laminate board.

The Artful Dodgers (Shrapnel Coming Down the Road), n.d.

Frederic Remington

Terracotta pitcher decorated with red figures on a black background, with a slender neck and base. One side features a woman holding a fan; the reverse, a stylized fan pattern.

Oinochoe (Pitcher), end of 4th century BCE

Ancient Greek

A work made of pen and brown ink and colored crayons on cream wove paper (discolored to buff), pieced.

The Arrival of the Muses of Art at Architecture, 1890

Jan Toorop

Abstract painting, black background covered with flicks and smudges of white and other colors.

Greyed Rainbow, 1953

Jackson Pollock

A work made of tin-glazed earthenware.

Large Plate, 1775–1825

Talavera Poblana

Painting of a crowd of well-dressed light-skinned people in an open, snowy field surrounded by large rolling hills. At center a woman in a bright-yellow coat and skirt holds the hand of a child in red, who pulls to turn her toward the others.

Love of Winter, 1914

George Wesley Bellows

A work made of silver gilt over a wooden core; foot: copper gilt.

Altar Cross, c. 1325; foot: 15th century