With the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, many avant-garde artists in Europe began to question the impulse to privilege the modern and the new. The violence of the conflict, which was intensified by the rise of technologies that enabled the mechanization of mass destruction, brought the ideal of progress itself into doubt. In response, some artists turned to the past—not as a fixed inheritance but as a resource for creative renewal.
Propelled by recent archaeological discoveries reported in illustrated art magazines, artists explored the early cultures of the Mediterranean world, finding inspiration in prehistoric statuettes and Archaic Greek sculpture and architecture. Pablo Picasso was among those of his generation who played a pivotal role in this turn toward antiquity. He transformed its motifs into radically new images, revealing how historical references could generate a distinctly modern visual language.
Organized by Cécile Godefroy, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Curator, Department Painting and Sculpture, with Rachel Remick, Curatorial Associate, Department of Curatorial Affairs and Department of Painting and Sculpture.