* What was the 1913 Armory Show? Do you think that edition of Armory Show had a lasting effect on the arts? Why or why not?

The 1913 Armory Show was an International Exhibition of Modern Art organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors to display an amalgamation of independent and unregulated art work. The 1913 Armory Show is known to be the first large exhibition of modern art in America -- boasting a significant number of paintings, sculptures, and decorative work done by some 300 plus European and American artists (“Welcome to the 1913 Armory Show”, nd). Since its occurrence, the Armory Show event has made a lasting impact on American art in general. Many lauded it as one of the most influential events in the history of American art (“Welcome to the 1913 Armory Show”, nd).
As a result of the impact of the event, museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased and displayed pieces from the show. It was not customary for traditional museums and art galleries with Gilded Age concepts and perspective on art to purchase ‘freestyle’ ‘rebel’ art. The Armory Show became somewhat of a true ‘trend-setter’ for modern art.
Furthermore, according to Doss (2002) “In the five years following the Armory Show, some 34 galleries, and organizations mounted more than 250 shows of American and European modern art.” These occurrences following the Amory Show has been a testament to the effects the event has on modern art in America.
References:
Doss, E. (2002, April). Oxford History of Art: Twentieth-Century American Art. Cary, NC, USA: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from ebrary, 289.
“Welcome to the 1913 Armory Show”. (), Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~museum/armory/entrance.html Overall though, the question is a loaded one in my opinion, Instructor Green. A question like this begs the question "who is 'truly' American?" We are all from different places - either by birth or ancestry. So I don't know if the art had anything to do with the geographic origins of the artists but more so had to do with the time - social and societal influences on art that were occurring around the time of the Show. For example, modern art was already taking shape and efforts to ‘unshackle’ art forms and types were already in progress.

1250 paintings, sculptures, and decorative works by over 300 European and American artists. While the purchase of Cézanne's Hill of the Poor by the Metropolitan Museum of Art signaled an integration of modernism into official art channels, the shock and outrage proported from Duchamp's Nude Descending the Staircase and Matisse's Luxury connected the Armory Show, officially known as The International Exhibition of Modern Art, with an historic avant-garde whose duty was to question the boundaries of art as an institution

Welcome to the 1913 Armory Show

Marcel Duchamp
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912) |
Lauded as one of the most influential events in the history of American art, the Armory Show has a mythic legacy that rivals the raucous opening of Igor Stravinsky's ballet, The Rite of Spring in Paris. In the wake of previous large independent art exhibitions in France, Germany, Italy, and England, from February 17th to March 15th, 1913, New York's 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue between 25th and 26th streets was home to approximately 1250 paintings, sculptures, and decorative works by over 300 European and American artists. While the purchase of Cézanne's Hill of the Poor by the Metropolitan Museum of Art signaled an integration of modernism into official art channels, the shock and outrage proported from Duchamp's Nude Descending the Staircase and Matisse's Luxury connected the Armory Show, officially known as The International Exhibition of Modern Art, with an historic avant-garde whose duty was to question the boundaries of art as an institution.
"Rude Descending a Staircase
(Rush Hour in the Subway)" |
Reconsidering the narratives constructed by Armory Show critics, using the exhibition itself as a lens through which to evaluate their claims, is a two-fold process. The first step is to provide access to the material remnants of the Armory Show, the paintings and sculptures themselves. Though by no means complete, the tour of the Armory Show aims to present a skeleton map of the exhibition as it looked in 1913, with the 69th Regiment Armory divided into 18 individual galleries. Also included is commentary on each area of the exhibition, providing some understanding of how audiences came to see the works at the Armory. The second aspect of the project is an investigation of several widespread contentions held by Armory Show critics. The impact of these assertions on analyses of early 20th-century cultural production in America will be explored as well. These essays are an attempt to detail some of the Show's impact while offering alternatives to critical accounts of the past.Reference:http://xroads.virginia.edu/~museum/armory/entrance.html |