Huh. So ‘Modern’ art is now a century old
For something so hard to pin down, Modern art has a surprisingly definite starting point.
“In America, it probably began on February 17th, 1913,” said Connecticut filmmaker Michael Maglaras.
That’s when thousands of people pushed their way into a New York art show with the sort of rowdy enthusiasm we associate nowadays with Black Friday. The first annual International Exhibition of Modern Art was the talk of the town and, for most visitors, their first chance to see work by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp.
The makeshift galleries in the massive armory displayed more than 1,000 works, and many of them were shocking.
“People saw the ‘Blue Nude’ by Matisse and thought, ‘What the hell is that?’ ” the filmmaker said. “They began to scratch their heads and question whether they were being stupid or naive or whatever. But you know what? They were being provoked.”
Continue reading at this link.
Come meet filmmaker Michael Maglaras and see “The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show” on March 26 at the Des Moines Art Center. Reservations for this free film screening can be made at this link.
