Knowra Armory Show Armory Show The 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art in New York introduced many American viewers to modern European art and helped reshape U.S. art debates.
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 : Marcel Duchamp’s 1912 painting depicts a figure in successive, overlapping phases of motion. Its fractured figure became the exhibition’s most notorious work, mocked as resembling stairs and machinery.
Association of American Painters and Sculptors : An artists’ organization founded in 1911 to promote exhibitions outside established American art institutions. It organized the International Exhibition of Modern Art and challenged the National Academy’s authority.
Modern art : Art made from the late nineteenth century onward that challenges or departs from established artistic conventions. The exhibition presented competing modern movements together to a broad American public.
Academic art : Art made according to formal conventions taught by European and American art academies. Its finish, perspective, and idealized subjects differed sharply from many works on display.
Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) : Henri Matisse’s 1907 painting shows a nude figure in a compressed, sculptural pose against a landscape. Its distorted anatomy provoked hostile responses to modern art at the exhibition.
Arthur B. Davies : An American painter and organizer who served as president of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. He helped lead the planning and secure support for the exhibition.
New York art world : The network of artists, galleries, museums, critics, and collectors shaping art in New York. The exhibition strengthened New York’s role as a center for debates about modern art.
Impressionism : A nineteenth-century painting movement associated with visible brushwork and effects of light and color. By 1913, it was more familiar to many viewers than the newer styles shown alongside it.
The Red Tree : A 1910 painting by Piet Mondrian that uses vivid color and simplified forms to depict a tree. It showed American audiences how modern painting could transform a recognizable subject.
Walt Kuhn : An American painter and exhibition organizer who helped arrange the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art. His organizational work helped turn the association’s plan into a major public exhibition.
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