The origins of the writing of the history known as the history of modern art (catalogue).
Based on the collections of the Museum of American Art (MoAA), Berlin and the Salon de Fleurus, New York, the exhibition
Les fleurs américaines, which took place at Frac Île-de-France / Le Plateau, recounted, through anonymous copies, the origins of the writing of the history known as the history of modern art, to question the notions of originality, uniqueness and authenticity of the work of art that still prevail today in the art world.
First publication in English and French dedicated to the MoAA and the Salon de Fleurus' activities, this catalog expands on the issues raised by the exhibition through a range of texts and differently sourced images. Modeled on the catalog that accompanied the 1936 exhibition titled
Cubism and Abstract Art that was organized by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. at the MoMA in New York, this catalog borrows some aspects of that original design to revisit the three moments of
Les fleurs américaines :
From the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,
Musée d'Art Moderne and
50 ans d'art aux Etats-Unis, through an assortment of photographs, drawings and anonymously authored texts entitled
Tales of the Artisans. Also included are the transcription of and images that accompanied a lecture given by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. at Le Plateau on december 17, 2012, retracing some of the key episodes in the construction of the history and museography of modern art in Europe and the USA. An interview with
Walter Benjamin, the post-mortem spokesperson for the MoAA, together with a text by the curators Elodie Royer and Yoann Gourmel regarding the exhibition and the activities of the Salon de Fleurus in New York and the MoAA in Berlin complete this publication.
Published following the eponymous exhibition at Frac Île-de-France / Le Plateau, Paris, from 13 December 2012 to 17 February 2013.
