Armory Gallery and its relation to Modernism

The Armory Show of 1913 marked the beginning of the modernism movement in America. Impressionism became a thing of the past and expressionism a form of the future. Brave artists created pieces that boldly reflected modernism themes such as displacement, fragmentation, and exile. Rays of light and shadows were no longer relatable to the early 20th century industrial society. Hemingway and TS Eliot's works coincide with the Armory Show to reflect a new, pushing the envelope way of life. Artists and authors rejected tradition and welcomed change through their work.

A French artist whose work personified modernism was Henri Matisse. Matisse painted the human form differently than his colleagues and fellow artists Picabia and Dubchamp. His crude, childlike interpretations of the human form resulted in a monstrous and oversimplified sight. Matisse rejected the way society viewed beauty and wanted to create something that he believed to be true. Matisse was a modern painter because he revolted away from 19th century realism and created a new interpretation of the human form that challenged tradition and created shock and disgust among the audience.

The Blue Nude, Le Lux, II by Matisse was so shocking and revolting that students called it the most "blasphemous picture in the exhibition". Considering that all of the artwork in the Armory Show was radical for rebelling against realism, this specific piece must have been quite offensive to a more traditional audience. Audiences viewed Matisse's work as an attack on the progress of Western Civilization as a whole. Matisse's work relates to TS Eliot's "The Wasteland" in this way. TS Eliot moved away from America to Europe and never looked back. "The Wasteland" can be seen as an attempt to escape America by Eliot affiliating himself with European culture. This text also frustrated the audience because its fragmented style confused the reader, making them feel lost and alienated. Confusion and alienation are an aspect of modernism and audiences might have been unhappy with Matisse's and Eliot's work simply because they were not ready for change, especially when the future was portrayed as dark and dismal.

Van Gogh is famous for his play on modernism in his creative works. Although he was well known in Europe at the time, The Armory Show helped put Van Gogh on the map in America. Van Gogh's work is not explicitly modernism but his new and exciting way of painting was a real building block for the modernism movement and distanced him from the fading away of Impressionism. Distorted images and bright, bold colors displayed Van Gogh's unapologetic, erratic honesty in his representation of the world. Overwhelming spiritually and emotionally, his abstract way of painting represented his courage to allow an audience to see the way he saw. Van Gogh was ahead of his time and audiences were confused and baffled by what they saw.

Van Gogh's work connects with Hemingway's "In Our Time". An important theme of "In Our Time" is the modernist dilemma. The characters in his stories are not happy. They can't go back to the way life used to be, when everything was easier and joyful. And because they are wishing for the past, the present is passing them by and they can't enjoy life happening in the moment. The past is gone and seems like a better time and where they are now does not seem great either. The hopelessness and meaninglessness of time and way of life coincides with Van Gogh's work because his paintings depicted what many did not understand. His work was not quite impressionism or modernism, he was unique and his own genre in this weird limbo between two time periods. Disconnectedness and the psychology of life and nature are pulled into question and reflected upon in a similar way to Hemingway's writing style. This reflection of the psychology of life and being stuck between the past and the present are central ideas to Modernism.