Next week marks the 100th anniversary of the 1913 “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” better known as the Armory Show – the art show that changed everything. The Armory Show was the first large exhibition of modern art in America. It was also the first time many New Yorkers found themselves face-to-face with the work of artists like Duchamp, Seurat, Picasso, Matisse, Toulouse-Latutrec, Gaugin, Rodin and many others.
On the show’s 50th anniversary in 1963, historian Milton Brown called it “probably the most important exhibition” to ever take place in this country. An additional 50 years have only furthered to deepen that assessment. James Panero, editor of The New Criterion, explains what lessons we should take from the show. Barbara Haskell, pre-war curator at the Whitney Museum, shares how the museum today continues to be influenced by this exhibition from a hundred years ago.
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