The Armory Art Show, which opened in 1913, was the first large modern art exhibition. It was during a time of modernism and change and the pieces of art selected to be included somehow portrayed this. They were controversial and many claimed that they weren’t even art. As I walked through the exhibit I appreciated most of the beautiful pieces of art. However, none of them struck a chord until I reached one piece that I kept returning to because it was so complex and compelling that I couldn’t get enough.

When I saw Young Girl by Jacques Villon (aka Gaston Duchamp, Marcel Duchamp’s elder brother) despite being unsure of what it was, I immediately fell in love. The vibrant colors which stood out amongst Picabia’s Dancing at the Spring and Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, definitely caught my eye, but I had to take a moment to discern the “young girl” in the painting who is meant to be Villon’s twenty-three-year-old sister, Yvonne sitting in an armchair. Paintings like these were called “puzzle pictures,” paintings that seemed unintelligible and were deemed deceptive because one could not look at it and immediately know what it was. However, that’s partly what I think makes it so special. I love how every time I looked at this painting (which was many, because I kept coming back to stare at it) I found something new. There was order amongst the chaos and a method to the madness. Villon used geometry in this abstract, Cubist artwork; the mathematical proportion called the Golden Section, volumetric pyramids and triangles and numerous other shapes. It’s not something that “anyone could do,” like many claim about other pieces of modern art. What’s meant to be the eyes, eyebrows, lips, jawbone, and cheeks is subject to opinion; there is more than one possibility for each, but somehow it fits in more than one way. 

The piece may be conveying that the numerous changes at the time can each be seen in a different light. While one person may see one thing, someone else can see something totally different. But there’s no right or wrong, it’s a matter of perspective and opinion.

When originally shown in 1913, the Armory Show at 100 introduced America to a whole different kind of art, yet received a less than favorable reaction. 100 years later, not only is it hard to imagine how people could dislike this show, but also the art world without these works. When I first walked in, I was pleasantly surprised to see sculptures and paintings done in different styles; not just the same old works one would usually see at a specific museum exhibit.

One piece I really enjoyed was Pablo Picasso’s “Woman’s Head (Fernande).” Done in the Cubist style common in the early 20^th century, this sculpture’s main difference from a neoclassical one is that it looks alive. The typical white, neoclassical heads all have the same smooth skin, blank eyes, and discernable features. In person, the sculpture looks more black than gray, and that liquidy darkness gives it an air of mystery. Also, the roughness, asymmetrical edges and distorted features give it the personality that the neoclassical style lacks.  In particular, the eyes of the sculpture are hollow, black and difficult to separate from the cheekbones and eyebrows, giving off the impression of features that morph into one another yet somehow are the exact opposite of fluid. The abstraction and darkness of the sculpture is what makes it so interesting and eye-catching.

My favorite painting was Robert Chanler’s “Parody of Fauve Painters” in which he basically mocked the popular fauvist artists of that time, particularly Matisse (the ape). Maybe in depicting Matisse as an ape, he is showcasing the primitiveness in the style and content of his art works. Fauvist paintings used bright colors and brushstrokes, and focused on simple and abstract subjects. The “artists” are surrounded by paintings of nude women, which the eccentric and innovative Chanler would have thought to be too typical and mainstream. Chanler’s ornate and decorative art was a complete departure from the popular forms of this time. It is very likely that he is mocking these “artists” for not branching out and exploring new forms of art like he is doing; instead, working within the confines of fauvism. Additionally, the other “artists” surrounding Matisse are depicted as admiring a monkey and his work, suggesting that they are just followers and not thinkers.

Skarmory!!!

When the Armory Show first premiered in 1913, it was the grandest art show of its time, containing 1,400 works of art. Many of the artists exhibited at the show were obscure and relatively unknown; however, this did not stop them from challenging the norm of the art of the time.

One piece I took an interest in – well, actually, Lawrenzo pointed it out and said there was a flamingo – was “Dances at the Spring” by Frances Picabia. Now, I wouldn’t have really taken such a look at this work if I wasn’t on a hunt for this “flamingo”. This art exemplifies cubism, and, if I would take it a step further, analytical cubism. I can make out a horse or pony, along with two people possibly kissing [the male(?) appears to have his tongue out]. Perhaps these figures are the rich, as they are literally riding on their high horse.

During the years preceding 1913, there was a lash out against corruption and unhealthy work practices, such as those Upton Sinclair and other muckrakers brought to light. It’s possible this painting is pointing out how the wealthy people of the time profited by metaphorically riding on the backs of the laborers. The reason this concept works so well with cubism is because of the idea of viewing the subject in a three-dimensional way. Picabia is looking at the rich from another perspective to analyze why they’ve become so wealthy. The painting is also done in all red; many dada artists ended up becoming communists around the time of the Russian Revolution.

The sculpture “Woman’s Head” by Pablo Picasso was another that caught my eye. It’s a clay sculpture that is solely the head and neck of a woman with her hair up. However, the sculpture isn’t rounded or smooth; that is, it looks rugged, maybe even rocky, in appearance, as if Picasso intended for it to look less human. The neck looks relatively muscular; it reminds me of a character out of Dragonball Z. In fact, aside from the name, this sculpture looks masculine to me.

Around the time Picasso would have made this, suffrage and Prohibition were gaining traction in the United States. For it to appear at the Armory Show under such a name, perhaps Picasso meant for it to express approval of the women’s rights movement. In a cubist sense, Picasso was looking at the different aspects of women but may have seen that the difference between men and women was minute, if he found a difference at all.

All-in-all, there’s a lot to interpret from the works we saw at the Armory Show. I found it very hard to actually think about the art’s meaning or historical context while we were there though, maybe because of the crowd of people surrounding me or maybe I was too distracted by Nude Descending a Staircase. In any case, I liked the show.

The Armory Show, organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, included over 1,400 modern works of art by both Americans and Europeans. In NY, when the exhibit opened, the city was changing politically and socially. There was a shift to progressive thought, and the exhibit added to the shift in the way Americans thought about art. Many Americans, accustomed to realistic art, were now introduced to European methods such as Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism.  The original exhibit evoked a range of emotions within Americans. Bold colors and primitive forms were used. Some of the paintings were even considered controversial.  Paintings by Henri Matisee, such as Blue Nude, were burned in Chicago by students of the Art Institute because most people were not accustomed to this expressive form of painting. This painting was classified as Fauvist, meaning Matisee used painterly qualities and strong, unrealistic color schemes.  In Blue Nude, Matisee uses the subject of a woman, which has been done throughout all of art history. However, the Impressionistic and slightly surreal style he uses to distort the human image made viewers critical since it was not representing the idolized body image. It did encourage other artists to steer away from what was traditionally and socially acceptable in the art world. I like this painting because despite the distortion, it coincides with reality more so than some other classical nude paintings.

My favorite painting at the Armory Show was Madonna by the expressionist painter Edvard Munch. I like the unfinished, raw look of the painting. It looks textured and rough. The lack of colors places emphasis on the woman, especially her facial expression. She looks as if she is in a state of euphoria. There is a duality with the title of Madonna; she could be seen as a saintly figure with a “halo” wrapping around her head. Yet, she could also be seen as someone who is pain or victimized with the swirling strokes of deep black enveloping the figure. The portrayal of the victimized woman could relate to how women were feeling around 1894. Her arms fade into the swirling strokes behind her head, making it seem as if she is surrendering.

Vine Woods by Agnes Pelton was the first painting that caught my eye. Up close, the painting looks chaotic as if it were a random arrangement of different colors, but the colors were actually carefully placed so that if a viewer looked from far away, they can see the entire scenery. This helped me understand Impressionism even more. Pelton was inspired my Matisse’s work although she didn’t incorporate many of his tactics. Created in 1910-11, Vine Woods is a romantic, imaginative painting that connects humans with nature. At the exhibit, I learned that Pelton believed that paintings were a form of visual poetry. Vine Woods exemplifies her idea because it is conceptual and leaves for various interpretation. The woman in the can be seen as a symbolist figure similar to characters in poetry.

Francis Picabia was one of the most talked about artists at the Armory Show for his use of Cubism. Objects are represented three-dimensionally into abstract form in Dances at the Spring by Picabia. Many had trouble understanding this type of avant-garde art. The use of shadow helps define the two girls dancing in the painting. It was inspired by a peasant dance he saw in 1909 on his honeymoon. Both stillness and liveliness is exemplified here. Picabia expresses inner feelings through geometric shapes similar to Duchamp in his Nude Descending a Staircase. Both pieces helped be understand Cubism as well as a taste of Futurism.

I’ll admit: I thought we were going to be looking at armor, something I have actually done at the Met. But after a bit of research, I learned that the Armory Show was a showcase of the works of current artists during the time. The armor in Armory Show, however, came not from the pieces in the exhibit, but came from the belligerent responses from the audiences who went to see it.

It was a bit difficult to see some of the artwork in a tight crowded space. However, this piece caught my eye:

Georges Braque

This piece particularly caught my eye, the festive colors and how it all blends together really fascinated me and brought an uplifting mood to the painting. The short and frequent strokes of the colors brought a sense of life into the painting but also made the painting more fictitious looking, child-like, and friendly. However, those viewing it for the first time in 1913 would disagree. Viewers and art aficionados found it almost primitive and child-like, not worthy for the elite to view as art.

Georges Braque’s style of art for this painting is considered Fauvism, a style that stems from Impressionism that features bright colorful strokes and distorted figures. At the time, art was meant only for “adults”, or rather, those who could afford artworks in their homes. They felt that this Fauvist-type work was a regression in the name of art and did not require much skill nor talent to make and thus angered many audiences who came to view this painting. Audiences at the time expected artworks to resemble subjects in life as much as possible and for art to depict different themes of nobility, virtuousness, and other romantic ideas. Different types of works that deterred from this was considered trash. However, it is works like this that would lead to Modernism, the next big phase in art history.

The Armory Show was the first exhibition of modern art in the United States. The kind of art shown in the Armory Show changed the view of americans towards art. “American audience were used to seeing Rembrandts and Titians in their galleries” (Marilyn Kushner). Therefore, americans were shocked with this new movement of art.

One of my favorites piece of art was “The beheading of saint John” By Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. This helped the new form of art because it showed a reality and not just perfect beings as the rembrandts and titians. Basically what this pieces of art is illustrating, it’s the suffering of Christ but at the same time his Joy, which could be interpreted as a blessing to obtain grace which the reward of eternal life by accepting Christ’s name.

Another piece of art that caught my attention was “Silence” By Odilon Rendon. it was interesting that she has her fingers to her lips as if she was silencing herself. Her eyes are down cast and she looks ashamed of herself. The colors in this piece of art can depict the sadness and the hopelessness. During this time of period, it was the progressive era where everyone was happy but she looks sad because women are still being oppressed and she has to keep silent.

The third piece of art that i found intriguing was “Blue Nude” By Henri Matisse. It draws from a traditional reclining female nude that brigs us back to the Renaissance. This piece of art is a distorter image of the female form. What the author is trying to show with this piece of art, it’s maybe how women were feeling during the time of Renaissance. During that time Women were oppressed by men. They didn’t have legal power.  So what this piece of art can be representing is the freedom that women wanted to have but they couldn’t. Also they desire to be heard and not only just seen. The color in this piece of art help the viewers have an image of that desire and also gives more live to the painting itself.

The Armory Show is like no other in that rather than displaying a cohesive curatorial job, it instead appears to be vast space in which ideas from different philosophies on art and the rapidly industrializing world are constantly ricocheting off of each other, leaving traditional, naturalistic works on one wall and revolutionary cubist canvases on another. The radical new art forms that the modern world inspired naturally brought about some stark opposition, however some responses were much more ambivalent.

George Bellows, an American artist, is a classic example. Having never traveled to Europe, the Armory Show was his first experience with European modernism. His recognition of the changing world is evident in the fairly contempo-

rary subject matter of his 1912 painting Circus, as well as his frequent paintings of metropolitan life. Circus demonstrates Bellows’ indifference to Cubism (he is quoted as claiming “They have arrived on the borderland of possible technical discoveries which may or may not be new and which may or may not be valuable.”, of the Cubists), but the emphasis on the beautifully expressive and glowing performer in the center explains his attraction to the vibrantly colored works of other modernists such as Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and André Derain. Although the piece does not represent any revolutionary thinking, it nonetheless is a gorgeous snapshot of vertical, horizontal, and circular motion and modern life; a sort of functioning solar system with a compelling spritely sun at its center.

 Similarly to Bellows’, Robert Henri’s intentions are difficult to discern. Henri, the leader of the urban realist Aschan school, painted Figure in Motion specifically for the Armory Show, departing from his characteristic subject matter. While he protested the restrictive standards of academic painting, it is obvious that he did not succumb completely to modernism in this painting. However, the title “Figure in Motion” seems to be a nod to other nudes in the show, such as Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 and Matisse’s Blue Nude, but his reaction is ambiguous. The soft, sensuous figure retains the same integrity as traditional nudes, but the subtle suggestions of motion, painterly strokes, and cropped hair lend a modern touch, placing him in the same ambivalent realm as Bellows.

The circulation of ideas that occurred during this era was obviously encouraged prolific experimentation amongst artists. In order to take advantage of the diverse influx of ideas, many artists began using paper in order to test their hand at these modern practices.

John Marin’s studies of the Woolworth Building were some of the most discussed pieces at the Armory Show and they perfectly demonstrate the capacity of paper (and watercolor, for that matter) to encourage experimentation. These watercolors are marvelous studies that apply the motion and musical quality of the city to a static structure, with generously abstracted results that reflect a contemporary aesthetic as well as modern subject matter. Marin’s brushwork evokes a sensation of pushing and pulling forces, a sensation that is reiterated throughout the Armory  thanks to the whirlwind of ideas and opinions that were manifested in the revolutionary show.

Society as a whole tends to look down on rebels, whether it approves or disproves of the rebel’s actions.  This is the same with the modern art movement exhibited in The Armory Show, or the International Exhibition of Modern Art.  Artists who specialized in modern art, any art that castsaside traditional values for the sake of experimentation, were often looked down upon because they were going against the norm of realism.  Nevertheless, the definition of art is constantly changing and many people started to approve and appreciate the modern art and the freedom of expression that came with it.  

According to Professor Carroll, two pieces that really shook the crowds during this modern art movement were Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp and Blue Nude by Henry Matisse.   Both pieces depict a different view of the human nude.  Duchamp’s piece turns the classic nude into a cubistic find-it game whereas Matisses’s painting broke the social norm of a female figure and distorted the anatomical parts and emphasizing imperfections with a harsh model.

The entire Armory Show helped me confirm my interest in modern art because I enjoy analyzing the different aspects, such as the philosophical one, of the pieces.  One of my favorite pieces in the show was Leopard and Deer by Robert W. Chanler. I thought the image represented an internal struggle between the pressures of one’s dark desires and the urge to do well and maintain one’s morals.  Another interpretation I had was a power clash between the upper class ripping the life out of the lower class.  Beyond my interpretation of the painting though, I loved the folk tale like art in which neither the leopards nor the deer are created hyper-realistically yet there is enough detail to see the agony of the deer getting bitten by the leopard’s many visible teeth.

Another piece that really made me think and appreciate modern art was Interior by Guy Pene du Bois.  Knowing that modernism aims to somewhat disregard social norms, I found it very contradictory since there were two women, seemingly docile, sitting in a room in very common female clothing.  But then I saw the blurred face of the younger female and realized this piece could be showing a revolution away from certain female norms by scratching the identity of the stereotypical female who looks docile in a white dress reading a book.   Maybe this picture foreshadowed a feminist movement.

Fauvism, a subsection of modernism, emphasizes the use of color and painterly qualities.  I really liked the piece Autumn by Alfred Maurer because of the added color on an already colorful season.  There were a variety of colors, but Maurer chose to add many shades of green in the blurry scene.  I enjoyed staring at the middle section where most of the colors are diverse.  That entire section was difficult to interpret because I did not know whether the colors are objects or just representing fall colors.  Overall, I liked the aesthetics of Autumn the most.

The Armory Show, recreated a century later, shows the evolution of art.  In 1913, majority of the population would scold modern artists because they were “unconventional” but in today’s society, modern art has become a norm.  The Armory Show related the pieces to the historical evolution of art with the various art types.  Personally, I enjoy modern art because there of the ambiguity and room for your mind to analyze. 

The Armory Show at 100 at the New York Historical Society displayed various types of artwork that were all connected to a similar historical context.  These pieces were originally displayed in 1913, and were created close to that year.  One part of the show that stood out to me was the original floor plan of the Armory Show as it was in 1913.  This is not considered an art piece; however, the added element of the show’s history allowed the viewer to develop a better understanding of just how important these works were, and still are, to modern and post-modern society.

“Leopard and Deer” 1912

The painting Leopard and Deer by Robert W. Chanler was one of the first pieces that the gallery had featured.  The most stunning aspect of this piece is the contrast in colors.  It is evident that the artist viewed the deer as the innocent animal who was ruthlessly attacked by the leopard, as the deer is painted white and the leopard is black, which represents evil.  The color of the trees in the background are also intriguing.  The trunks of the trees are blue, which is an unusual change from the traditional brown.  Further research showed that Chanler used unique colors to capture the “true spirit of nature.”  This piece stood out because of the color, which conveyed the motif of good versus evil, which is essentially how nature truly works.

“Circus” 1912

The other work of art that was alluring was Circus by George Bellows.  Unlike Chanler’s Leopard and Deer, this piece is a lot softer and much more appealing.  It conveys the childlike excitement of the circus through specific details throughout the painting.  Bellows painted facial expressions on certain circus performers and members of the audience in order to show the emotion that each individual is feeling.  The woman standing on top of the white horse is smiling because she has to; her profession requires her to entertain and be energetic.  The other performers’ and audience members’ facial expressions differ from hers.  While some are intrigued by the stunt in front of them, others appear to be frightened, such as the woman in the bottom right-hand corner.  Bellows attended this circus because his wife had organized it, but it was a “financial flop.”  He painted the circus from the perspective of a spectator, which is why it can be a bit overwhelming with mass amounts of performers on the stage, as well as different performances going on at once.  In addition to the woman on top of the horse, there are also trapeze artists dangling from the ceiling.

The part of the Armory Show that I enjoyed was that even though the paintings and sculptures all varied in mediums and motifs, they all stemmed from the same historical context.  This allowed the viewer to understand the purposes behind each piece of artwork and led to a deeper understanding of the messages conveyed.

What was once astonishing and scandalous for the population of 1913 can now be considered a brilliant form of expression. In 1913, the nation was at the end of the Progressive Era. They were developing socially, politically, and scientifically. Of course, with change comes the transformation of art. The Armory Show is a representation of that change. Until then, art was realistic. Most works of art were focused on everyday life. The Armory Show was revolutionary in the fact that it displayed modern art: art that had hardly ever been shown before. It focused on Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism.

This can be shown in Paul Gaugin’s painting, “Parau na te Varua ino” (Words of the Devil).

This painting portrays a belief in Tahitian culture of a devil that can paralyze a woman by fear. This painting was very controversial, one teacher even calling it “nasty, obscene, indecent, immoral, lewd, and demoralizing.” Others saw this painting as great symbolism. This mixed review exemplifies the gradual and hesitant progression of society towards modern art.

Another controversial piece is the infamous “Nude Descending a Staircase ” by Marcel Duchamp. The nude, once a customary subject, had been turned into an abstract piece. Not only was there much debate about the painting, there were also many parodies to follow. One parody was named “Rude Descending a Staircase (Rush Hour at the Subway)”.

This piece is a mockery not only of ”Nude Descending a Staircase”, but also Cubist art as a whole.

Trying to educate instead of shock the viewers, Chavannes showed a more traditional type of painting, “Le Verger, Les Enfants au verger, L’Automne”.

Shown are children gathering fruit in front of their mother. Both conservative and modern artists admired his work. His painting allowed the more traditional artists to have a taste of modern art without scaring them away.

Even though this work was astonishing to the viewers of 1913, it has become revolutionary to the ways in which art is understood today. Only 100 years after The Armory Show, we have come to the point where we can be open to the constantly changing world of art. Even though we are still progressing, the Progressive movement definitely helped us move forward into a new era of expression.