The Armory Show (at 100) is still turning heads after one hundred years. Although significantly smaller than the original showcase, the 100th anniversary was still able to capture what the original organizers intended: to show the progression of modern art to the controversial works of abstract art that had made the first Armory Show (in)famous.
Originally, the Armory Show was set up in a way to show the progression of the then well accepted “standard” of “good” art, that is the classical style of art. This led to the final section, which was filled with what was then very nouveau art. Many of the first publications of the Armory Show referred to it as the “Chamber of Horrors.” Many of these works, such as Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) by Marcel Duchamp and Blue Nude by Henri Matisse, were received with intense negativity, as they did not conform to the standards of the established art world back then. Some called it ugly; some flat out refused to call it art. However those pieces were confined in “Chamber of Horrors,” which was only one section of the exhibit that was located at the end.
While The Armory Show at 100 is much smaller than its predecessor, I think the organizers did a good job in selecting and gathering pieces to successfully reflect what the original exhibit was about. For example, two of Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s work, the Standing Woman and the Kneeling Woman, I feel were both great and smart pieces to put into the show. Wilhelm Lehmbruck was originally a hardcore traditionally trained classical artist, which is clearly obvious in the Standing Woman. His Kneeling Woman however shows his later development as a progressive and modern artist and his rejection of the traditional expression of art. The Kneeling Woman’s pose and shape, though still beautiful, was very different in that she was very exaggerated, elongated, and distorted. She nowhere near resembles Standing Woman, who was formed with traditional technique and realism in mind. With these two statues, Lehmbruck himself is an example of the radical art movement, the ever-changing art trends, and the fluidity of art itself.
The Armory Show, both then and now, were both also smart to include The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. This piece was included to show the earlier forms of artwork leading into the progression of the emerging modern art. It looks like a typical, run-of-the-mill classical painting. The irony of it being shown in the Armory Show as an example of accepted traditional art is that, when Pierre first completed the piece in 1869, it was considered unappealing for its rather stiff and weak composition. Later in 1913, it was praised for the same reasons it was frowned upon when it was revealed to the public. So, it is another beautiful example of progressive art and how art is always progressing.
While I enjoyed nearly every piece of art featured in the exhibit, the one I personally enjoyed was Young Girl by Jacques Villon. Visually, it was stunning, especially since it was displayed next to a much duller piece [Man on a Balcony (Portrait of Dr. Theo Morinaud) by Albert Gleizes]. The center of vibrant orange surrounded by light greys and green and blue hues as brighter shadows helped it shine against the beige monochrome pieces that of Man on a Balcony (Portrait of Dr. Theo Morinaud) and Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) by Marcel Duchamp. At first, I saw it be some profoundly intricate portrayal of a young girl transitioning out of her girlhood. Later I found that this was not the case.
Very much like his brother Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), Villon had literally painted what the title implied, a young girl. The subject was the brothers’ sister sitting in an armchair. When I became aware of this, I immediately saw it, how she sat poised and rested, and I could point out where her head and dainty feet were. Then it hit me. Like wow, it is just another painting, another glimpse into the eyes of the artist and how they wished to see things. They were not trying to baffle and confused the audience, but reveal and introduce a new way to view the world. I also later learned that there was an exact science behind how he painted the piece. Villon had used the triangles and colors in the mathematical proportions of the Golden Section. Maybe these abstract pieces were not so abstract at all.
