Salon to Biennial - Exhibitions that Made Art History, Volume 1: 1863-1959
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 SurrÃ©alisme 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 RefusÃ©s in Paris (1863), when the emperor of France decreed that artists not admitted by the picky jury (Ã‰douard 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.—David McClelland, PhiladelphiaCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.