Throughout her career, the mosaicist Jeanne Reynal (1903–1983) had one objective. She wanted to create “a new art of mosaic, a contemporary and fresh look for this ancient medium.” Reynal was friends with important artists of the time, Isamu Noguchi on the west coast, and, when she moved to New York City, Arshile Gorky and the de Koonings. But her curiosity led her to leave the U.S. In 1959 she set off with her husband, the Black painter Thomas Sills, and traveled across Russia, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. She later studied indigenous art in South and Central America. Reynal’s abstract mosaics show countless influences. Fragments of totem sculptures, pieces of shells, and Abstract Expressionist technique are just some of the elements that shine through. —E.C.