The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum celebrated the 10th anniversary of being in its current building with the opening of its “Real / Radical / Psychological: The Collection on Display” exhibition this past Friday, Sept. 9.

Along with opening remarks and tours, the opening event featured studio demonstrations of blacksmithing, bookmaking, printmaking and other crafts. A major centerpiece of the evening was “…in times like these…,” a specially commissioned cake created by Sam Fox School Master of Fine Arts alumna Ebony G. Patterson in collaboration with local bakery La Patisserie Chouquette. Beyond its intricate design elements, the cake was also intriguing in its inclusion of pertinent social issues; for instance, the gun control debate was represented with fondant firearms—which was constructed in the same spirit as a fall 2015 exhibition, “Guns in the Hands of Artists,” presented by the Des Lee Gallery of the Sam Fox School.

The collection is entirely comprised of Washington University-owned works displayed in three galleries: “The Long Nineteenth Century,” “Modernism and the Twentieth Century” and “Contemporary Moments.”

During the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 10, Kemper Director and Chief Curator Sabine Eckmann’s public gallery talk offered a discussion of the exhibition’s three motifs—the real, radical and psychological—to bring a deeper perspective to the collection.

Eckmann’s talk looked at the “Modernism and the Twentieth Century” gallery, which contains works from the 1900s to 1960s. In this gallery, works are subdivided into the subjective, objective, unconscious and embodied realities. Styles like expressionism, cubism, surrealism and abstract expressionism are especially prevalent in these paintings, as the artists grappled with how best to depict the human condition after the devastation of World War I and World War II and during an age of continuing technological progress.

Eckmann explained that, when brainstorming for this exhibition began over a year ago, the question was not only about how to display the artwork, but also about how to tell a narrative through the exhibition. This goal was manifested through the thoughtful juxtaposition of both similarly related and dissimilar pieces, as well as through the tracing of the painters’ changing mentalities within the historical context of the 20th century—which was, oftentimes, jarring.

“Much of the history of art was about artists being part of the elite of society,” Eckmann said, referencing the painters who were commissioned by monarchs, the wealthy or churches. “Many of these artworks were only comprehensible by those who were educated. But many artists in the 20th century instead endeavored to find a new language which everyone could understand.”

These attempts were not always successful, Eckmann explained. For instance, many viewers were mystified by Theo van Doesburg’s take on a common geometric language using multicolored rectangles in his “Compositie VII: ‘de drie gratien’” (Composition VII: The Three Graces). And yet artists continued to weave elements of the real world into their pieces, whether literally, through collages like Pablo Picasso’s “La bouteille de Suze” (Bottle of Suze), or more subtly, through political commentary that could be explored in Max Ernst’s “L’Oeil du Silence” (The Eye of Silence).

Abstractionism became prevalent as artists sought to translate raw emotions onto the canvas, which placed significantly less emphasis on precise depictions of real objects. As Eckmann put it, “Art focused on liberating the unconscious and making it activated for creative production.”

Art lover or not, it’s fascinating to look at how the history, political atmosphere, social context

and artistic aesthetics of changing times are reflected in artwork through the centuries. Through its latest exhibition, the Kemper Art Museum presents us with an opportunity for thought-provoking discussion.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the inspiration for the cake and where that exhibition was presented.