Composition with Four Figures

One of the first American artists to embrace modernist innovations in European art, Max Weber created this drawing after a sojourn in Paris from 1905 to 1908. The blocky forms, faceted planes, and masklike faces of his figures show the influence of the early Cubism of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, both of whom Weber met in Paris. In Standing Figure, on display nearby, he adopted a more linear and reductive approach to the female body.