Review of PICASSO'S WAR
A history of modern art in 20th century America
I enjoy visiting art museums. I appreciate more classical art, the skill of it, but I tend to gravitate toward more abstract and modern art. But I am certainly not an art buff. The most I’ve dug into art was during my Art History 101 course I took as a university freshman in Fall 2009.
I’m not sure how I found this book, but I was intrigued by Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came To America, by Hugh Eakin, when I saw the cover. It seemed like a great entry point into a topic I know little about. And it certainly was.
Picasso’s War covered the history of modern art in America, with the focus of the book on the tumultuous first half of the 20th century. The history of modern art in America – like most modern histories in America – is intimately entwined with the world wars that define two prosperous and progressive eras in American history.
We owe the modern art movement in America largely to a passionate man named John Quinn who dedicated most of his life to supporting soon-to-be modern art icons like Picasso here in the States. Putting on galleries, buying their work, and generally trying to make the modern art of France, Germany, and Russia an “in” and respected thing in the US. Although he mostly failed in his own lifetime, his life’s work was foundational for the eventual acceptance of modern art in America.
His historical successor, Alfred Barr, the inaugural director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, eventually got traction for modern art in America. The Museum of Modern Art in New York – the first of its kind in the US – put on enthralling exhibitions showcasing the importance of modern art and dispelling the notion that modern art would morally corrupt the citizens of the US.
But what finally cemented modern art in the US was a progressive Picasso exhibition curated by Barr at The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition was almost squashed by Picasso himself (who had a history of disappointing galleries and sales in the US) and his primary dealer, but WWII made it a necessity to ship hundreds of Picasso’s works to the states to save them from the modern art purge of the Germans.
Most disappointingly for the history of modern art, however, was the premature death of John Quinn who single-handedly possessed the most extensive modern art collection on earth, with key pieces showing the history of Picasso’s work, and the evolution of major movements within modern art. When his collection was auctioned piecemeal after his death, most of the collection has never been found or recovered. Eventually, though, modern art prevailed, and Picasso’s war was won here America.
Picasso’s War was an excellent and informative read about the long path of modern art acceptance here in America. A highly recommended book for history, art, and cultural buffs.
Published: July 2022
Format: Audio
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