Pablo Picasso's list, 1912, of European artists
to be included in the Armory Show of 1913. Walt Kuhn Family Papers and Armory Show Records.
Donated by Brenda Kuhn, 1962-1979
It is often the rough draft, the incidental comment, or casual record that reveals the rhythms of an age. Pablo Picasso's list of European artists for the 1913 Armory Show is a treasure, not only because it provides Picasso's recommendations for the first international exhibition of modern art in the United States, but for what the scrap of paper conveys about the collaborative efforts of the exhibition's organizers.
Walt Kuhn, who played a major role in assembling the show, had limited knowledge of the European avant-garde. He relied on American artists then living abroad - Walter Pach, Jo Davidson, and Alfred Maurer - as well as individuals, such as Picasso, for introductions to contemporary European artists and dealers.
With phonetic spelling, Picasso names Marcel Duchamp, whose Nude Descending a Staircase caused an uproar in the press, Fernand Léger, his countryman Juan Gris, among others. Curiously, he did not include Georges Braque, whose name was later added in Walt Kuhn's hand. In the end, the Europeans stole the show, overshadowing their American counterparts.