David Smith "Still Life," circa 1929. Gerald Peters Gallery.

The seventeenth iteration of The Armory Show opened to the public on Thursday, March 5, 2015. Housed in Piers 92 and 94 along the Hudson River on Manhattan’s West Side, The Armory Show, which has spawned an array of satellite fairs and related happenings, is the largest art fair in New York and one of the industry’s leading international art events.

Founded in 1994 by dealers Colin de Land, Pat Hearn, Matthew Marks, and Paul Morris as the Gramercy International Art Fair (named after its initial location in the legendary Gramercy Park Hotel), the fair acquired its new title in 1999 after relocating to the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue. The name was an homage to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art, which is often referred to as The Armory Show. One of the most influential art events to take place during the 20th century, the 1913 Armory Show introduced the American public to experimental European art movements, including Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism. While realistic styles dominated the country’s art scene, works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marcel Duchamp left The Armory Show’s American visitors awestruck. Presenting an eclectic and groundbreaking mix of genres and styles, the original Armory Show continues to inspire and inform today’s fair.

Divided into two main sections -- Contemporary and Modern -- this year’s Armory Show welcomed a total of 199 galleries from 28 countries. Housed in Pier 92, The Armory Show’s Modern sector features 56 international dealers and spotlights historically significant works of twentieth century art. Highlights include works by Arthur Dove, Charles Sheeler, Milton Avery, Jacob Lawrence, and other American modernists offered by Jonathan Boos, LLC (New York, New York/Bloomfield Village, Michigan); works by Janet Fish, Robert Kushner, and other American artists presented by DC Moore Gallery (New York, New York); the exhibition Line and Space: Architectural Themes in 20th-Century American Art, which features abstract and representational works by Romare Bearden, Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, Werner Drewes, Lyonel Feininger, Sam Francis, Balcomb Greene, Robert Gwathmey, Grace Hartigan, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and others organized by Debra Force Fine Art, Inc. (New York, New York); works by modern masters in both the realist and avant-garde traditions offered by Hirschl and Adler Modern (New York, New York); pieces by Helen Frankenthaler, David Smith, and other modern artists presented by Gerald Peters Gallery (New York, New York/Sante Fe, New Mexico); and works by Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Cornell, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, and many others offered by Hollis Taggart Galleries (New York, New York).

Pier 92 - Modern also features two special projects -- Parviz Tanavoli: Selections from the NYU Art Collection and Carlo Massoud: ARAB DOLLS: Maya, Zeina, Racha and Yara. Widely celebrated for his sculpture, Selections from the NYU Art Collection will feature a variety of paintings, drawings, prints, and jewelry by the Iranian artist, Parviz Tanavoli, as well as ceramic and bronze three-dimensional works by the artist. Arab Dolls, created by the Lebanese designer Carlo Massoud, is a limited-edition collection of sixty glossy black lacquer wood “dolls” rising from the ground in fifteen symmetrical rows. The installation addresses the function of the veil in the Arab world and the western interpretation of that function. Both projects were inspired by The Armory Show’s Focus: MENAM initiative, which brings together galleries representing artists from Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and other areas of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. 

According to a press release from The Armory Show, Michael Horowitz, the Executive Director of the fair, said, “It is a very exciting moment for The Armory Show with this year’s fair marking the most focused and highest caliber edition in my tenure.” The Armory Show will run through Sunday, March 8, 2015.