Examining modern art through its exhibitions

It is clear that the modern movements at the beginning of the twentieth century represent a significant break of artistic form from previous traditions. One cannot understate the significance of what artists during this period achieved in such a short space of time. There was more than artistic genius at play to secure modernism's success, however. At the turn of the century, alternative exhibition spaces began to appear in abundance around the world as a reaction to the outdated and failing system of the Academies. This chapter focuses on the innovative exhibiting practices during this time in relation to the use, design, and shifting social dynamic of exhibition space. It is the contention here that these spaces were fundamental elements in enabling the propagation of modern art by widening access to the arts and by rewriting and challenging the very nature and social fabric of the art viewing space. Reimagining the exhibition space as something specific to contemporary modern art, while at the same time retaining elements of institutional exhibition practices to assure the public of its place in history, allowed modern art to be embraced by the growing middle-classes, eager to cement the status of their new-found wealth through cultural investment.

Tellingly, early-twentieth-century exhibition catalogs feature not only photographs of exhibited works, but often, images of the exhibition space and its interior. If exhibition spaces were important enough to document, present, and preserve as part of exhibition catalogs across Europe and North America, what was their significance to the modern movements in the time before World War I?