Though Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is considered one of the founders of the Cubist
movement with Braque in Montmartre, Paris, the significance of his work was not
fully appreciated in the Armory Show because the AAPS focused more heavily on
the Puteaux group (Villon, Duchamp,
et als
) than both Picasso and Braque. Also, the
display of art by Picasso was fairly disjointed largely due to the fact that he had
works in different media that were spread out across three different galleries. The
works themselves represented both his more recent Cubist creations (lots 93 and 94)
and earlier pieces from his Blue Period (lots 89-92).
The critical response to Picasso’s work was minimal—those who knew he was a
figurehead of the vanguard in Paris referenced him as the symbolic leader of the
Cubists (often using the line, “Picasso and the Cubists”) but did not offer any
thoughtful remarks on the works included in the show. It was Marcel Duchamp, who
is considered Picasso’s rogue rival in terms of influence on the development of
modern art in the early 20th century, and his
The Nude Descending the Staircase II
that overshadowed Picasso’s works. Walter Pach, the European-based agent for the
AAPS who had a strong hand in selecting the European works, preferred the Cubism
of Villon and his enclave, which may also have influenced the quality and reception
of the Picasso works in the exhibition. The Armory Show was attacked in Parisian
editorials, which declared, “The works of the French artists are scattered and badly
hung, serving only as bait for the public. A large canvas by de Launay [Robert
Delaunay] called
Ville de Paris
, has not even been hung, while, as Picasso’s canvases
are not grouped together, no idea can be formed of this artist’s talent. The same
treatment is given to the works sent by Mlle. Laurencin, Derain, etc.”
The publicity surrounding the Armory Show did not have much of an affect on the
artists in Paris and it seems that Picasso was ambivalent to the lack of critical
attention or even the poor presentation of his works; at the time he was more
interested in an exhibition of his work opening in Munich. This was also not the first
time Picasso’s work was exhibited in the United States; Stieglitz had organized a
show at 291 Gallery of his Cubist drawings several years prior which also received
little attention from the public.
The eight works by Picasso in the Armory Show came from multiple lenders,
including his Paris dealer Henry Kahnweiler, trailblazing American collector Leo Stein,
and Alfred Stieglitz, who lent a drawing and a bronze bust of a woman’s head. In
Davies’ chronology, Picasso was included in the lineage of the Classicists. One
sticking-point (or hope) for critics of Cubism in the Armory Show was that the
movement was likely a fleeting fad that would soon pass, however it was Picasso
who declared ten years after the Armory Show that, “Many think that Cubism is an
art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think
that way have not understood it. Cubism is . . . an art dealing primarily with forms
and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life. A mineral substance, having
geometric formation, is not made so for transitory purposes, it is to remain what it
is and will always have its own form.”
