Synopsis
SALON TO BIENNIAL explores the development of modern art as shown through a series of highly influential group exhibitions. It is the most important reference book available on the subject, and the only book available that charts these groundbreaking events in such detail and scope. Volume I opens with the revolutionary first Salon des Refusés in Paris in 1863, and concludes with the multi-locational international exhibition 'The New American Painting,' organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1958. SALON TO BIENNIAL depicts a wealth of rare documentary material and ephemera, including installation photographs, publications, and reviews of the period surrounding each exhibition. It is an exceptional sourcebook for anyone interested in the history of twentieth-century art, exhibition design, or curatorial practice.
David McClelland - Library Journal
Altshuler (director, museum studies, Graduate Sch. of Arts & Sciences, NYU; The Avant-Garde in Exhibition) revivifies all the great exhibitions of modern art history-including the Armory Show in New York (1913) and Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme in Paris (1938)-in two massive volumes (the second volume is scheduled for publication later this year). This first tome starts with the Salon des Refusés in Paris (1863), when the emperor of France decreed that artists not admitted by the picky jury (Aedouard Manet was one) could show in the other end of the exhibition hall. For each of the 24 included exhibitions, Altshuler includes a page of overview, a list of the artists, a selection of contemporary criticism, and a variety of ephemera including cartoons, brochures, and tickets. The greatest lack is illustrations of the artwork, although it would be difficult to pack them into this already large book. Coverage is global from dada in Berlin to modernism in London, with an engaging detour to the Gutai Exhibition in Tokyo (1955). Aimed at art historians and artists, this is accessible to the general public.