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Overview of the Collection |
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| Title: | Armory Show Scrapbooks and Ephemera | |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1913-1921, 1939-1941 | |
| Bulk Dates: | 1913 | |
| Quantity: | 0.5 linear feet One 5" manuscript box and one 25x19x2" oversize box |
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| Abstract: | Clippings, postcards, photographs, buttons, and other ephemera related to the 1913 Armory Show in New York, Chicago, and Boston. | |
Arrangement |
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| Scrapbooks and other items from Series I, II, and III remain in their original order, except for four buttons from Series
II and III, which were removed from their original pages and placed in separate boxes or mylar for preservation purposes. After the scrapbook in Series IV was examined in October 1980, MoMA Library staff rehoused the pages in mylar and numbered them. The series follows that order. However, there are two pages numbered "24." This arrangement roughly follows chronological order from February to April 1913. The collection is organized into four series: |
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| Series I: Harriette S. Palmer Scrapbook of Clippings, 1913-1921 | ||
| Series II: Charles R. Smith Collection of Postcards, Buttons, and More, 1913 | ||
| Series III: Scrapbook of Buttons, Postcards, and Photographs, 1913 | ||
| Series IV: Scrapbook Pages of Photostats of Clippings, 1913, 1939-1941 | ||
In 1913, the International Exhibition of Modern Art, also known as the Armory Show, took place at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, February 17–March 15, and then toured to the Art Institute of Chicago, March 24–April 16, and, finally, the Copley Society in Boston, April 23–May 14. Organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, it was the first large-scale exhibition of modern art in America and served as an introduction to the European styles of Cubism, Futurism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and more. The show was received by the press with accusations of insanity and profanity, as well as declarations that the works on display did not meet the classification of "art"; newspaper cartoonists mocked the art, too. Artworks by over 300 American and European artists were exhibited including: Constantin Brâncuși, Georges Braque, Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, Camille Corot, Stuart Davis, Edgar Degas, Marcel Duchamp, Paul Gaugin, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Wassily Kandinsky, Edouard Manet, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, and many more. Despite the initial confusion and outrage, the exhibition ultimately inspired American artists to experiment with new styles and collectors and institutions to begin acquiring modern art.
Series I consists of Harriette S. Palmer's scrapbook of over fifty pages of clippings regarding the critical reception of
the Armory Show in 1913 in New York. Articles and cartoons also cover the exhibition at the Copley Society in Boston, other
exhibitions, and Cubism, Futurism, and Post-Impressionism more broadly. The clippings date from January 1913 to March 1921.
Charles R. Smith compiled the collection of almost sixty items related to the Armory Show of 1913 found in Series II. Items
include an invitation to the opening of the exhibition in New York, two buttons, and dozens of postcards. The postcards represent
a sampling of the works on display in the exhibition.
The scrapbook in Series III was compiled by an unknown person and consists of almost forty pages of postcards, buttons, and
photographs related to the Armory Show of 1913. The postcards and photographs represent a sampling of the works on display
in the exhibition.
Series IV consists of over two dozen scrapbook pages, again compiled by an unknown person, with photostats of newspaper and
magazine clippings related to the critical reception of the Armory Show in New York and Chicago. A few articles and cartoons
also touch on Cubism, Futurism, and Post-Impressionism more broadly or at other exhibitions. The periodicals are largely New
York and Chicago-based, including The New York Tribune, The New York Times, Harper's Weekly, The Sun, The Chicago Record-Herald, The Chicago Tribune, and more. Also included is an installation photograph of the Armory Show in New York and an essay by Guy Gayler Clark about
the exhibition.
The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.
Armory Show Scrapbooks and Ephemera is the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the staff of the MoMA Archives.
Index Terms |
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| This collection is indexed under the following headings in the library catalog of The Museum of Modern Art. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Armory Show (1913 : New York, N.Y.) | ||
In the MoMA Archives, the Aline Farrelly Scrapbook on Modern Art in America also has news clippings regarding the Armory Show
and the introduction of European modern art to America.
Many items from Series IV are reproduced in The Armory Show: International Exhibition of Modern Art, 1913. Volume III: Contemporary and Retrospective Documents. Arno Press, New York: 1972, available in the MoMA Library.
Published citations should take the following form:
Long version: Armory Show Scrapbooks and Ephemera, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
Short version: Armory Show, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.
Harriette S. Palmer donated the scrapbook in Series I to the MoMA Library in 1935. Charles R. Smith gave the items in Series II to Nelson A. Rockefeller, who donated them to the MoMA Library in February 1977. The scrapbooks in series III and IV are of unknown origin and were received by the MoMA library at an unknown date. The scrapbooks and ephemera in Series I, II, and III were transferred from the MoMA Library to the MoMA Archives in 1999. The scrapbook in Series IV was transferred from the MoMA Library to the MoMA Archives in 2024.
Series I consists of a bound scrapbook of clippings glued and/or taped onto pages, many of which are meant to unfold. The
overall condition is poor; the book should be handled with care.
In October 1980, Pearl Moeller of the MoMA Library placed items from Series II in mylar in a three-ring binder and created
a detailed inventory. In 1999, Cynthia Frame of the MoMA Library removed two buttons from mylar and placed them in separate
boxes for preservation purposes, now found in II.2.
Series III consists of a string bound scrapbook of postcards and photographs glued onto pages. The overall condition is stable,
but the book should be handled with care. After the scrapbook was examined in November 1980, MoMA Library staff removed an
index card with two pins affixed from its page and placed it in a separate mylar sleeve, now found in III.2.
The pages in Series IV as a whole are in stable condition. After the scrapbook was examined in October 1980, MoMA Library
staff rehoused the pages in mylar and numbered them. At this time, some clippings were separated from the original brown paper
pages and put into mylar sleeves; some of these blank brown paper pages are still included in the collection, following the
rehoused clippings. Several pages have markings suggesting that copy negatives were created at MoMA. Other markings suggest
that a few clippings had been removed from scrapbook pages prior to the MoMA Library's stewardship of this collection. In
2024, the processing archivist transcribed citation information for the articles, when extant, in the folder abstracts, and
discarded the original black scrapbook binding, which was in poor condition.
| Box | Series | Folder |
| 1 | I | 1 |
| II | 1-2 | |
| III | 1-2 | |
| 2 | IV | 1-34 |