Armory Show

Armory Show international exhibition of modern art held in 1913 at the 69th-regiment armory in New York City. It was a sensational introduction of modern art into the United States. The estimated 1,600 works included paintings representing avant-garde movements in Europe. Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase was singled out by the hostile critics as emblematic of the so-called insanity and degeneracy of the new art. One of the most important exhibitions of art ever held in the United States, the Armory Show aroused the curiosity of the public and helped to change the direction of American painting.

Bibliography: See M. Brown, The Story of the Armory Show (1963, repr. 1988).

Armory Show, name given to the International Exhibition of painting and sculpture (1913) held at the Armory of the 69th Regiment in New York City. It was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, of which Arthur Davies was president, and was largely aided by the progressive group known as “The Eight.” It introduced Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, and Expressionism to the American public, and provided a great stimulus for American painting and sculpture, and art criticism.