Alfred Stieglitz and Gallery 291 :: Armory show Art essays

Alfred Stieglitz and Gallery 291A Modern device Revolution Before the Armory ShowQuite a fewer years agothere got to bea state of affairs.The place grewthe place shiftedthe place was where this man was.Shiftis something that cannot be tiedcannot be pigeonholed.It jumpsit boundsit glidesit SHIFTSit must have freedom.It seems those who do that worth the doing be possessed of good lookalive eyeswarm eyesit seems they radiate a fire within outward.The places they inhabit have a light burninga light seen from near and far by those who need this lightand this light sometimes dimsometimes first-classnever out.To realize such a placea very tangible place was and is this mans dream.John Marin to the highest degree Alfred Stieglitz1 On February 17, 1913 the International Exhibition of Modern Art, or the Armory Show, undecided to the usual. It is unlikely that the some 4,000 guests milling around the eight een rooms of the 69th command Armory in New York that night could have realized the conclusion to which the artwork displayed would set off a revolution that would sweep the nation. answer to the Armory Show, however, was sensational. During the month long exhibition the, Armory Show became the reproof of the town. The galleries were constantly full of people who came to gape at the spectacle, artists who came to study or deride, and celebrities and socialites who came to see and be seen. Former President Teddy Roosevelt even do a visit to the show praising the spirit of modernity wassail in the venture, but distrustful of the so called radical art of the European avant-garde. In his response to the show published in Outlook, Roosevelt commented It is vitally unavoidable to move forward and to shake off the dead hand of the reactionaries and besides we have to face the fact that there is apt to be a lunatic fringe among the votaries of any forward movement.2 In this st atement Roosevelt summarized the public reactions to the show.