The Chaotic Logistics Behind New York's Historic Armory Shows

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The annual fall art and antiques show at the First Battery Armory in New York, which was permanently canceled, was once considered the definitive bellwether for the art season despite its chaotic logistics. The fair, though not the largest or most elegant, was a crucial event for dealers and buyers alike, known for its logistical difficulties, in part due to its venue and an extremely tight schedule, according to an editor's note originally published in September 2023.

Staging the exhibition involved a single Friday night in late October when trucks jammed Lexington Avenue. Workers lined up at the 66th Street historic National Guard armory entrance, preparing for an intense installation process. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of artwork, wrapped in crates, were moved into the armory without apparent security or strict rules during this initial phase. The venue, a massive gymnasium-like interior, was transformed into a museum-like space, hosting over 200 galleries and displaying high-value artworks.

Over three nights and two days, up to 15,000 paintings, sculptures, and decorative works were unboxed, hung, and assembled. Booths were built to specification, often including small offices, and decorators and caterers would arrange plants, furniture, and a café. After a 72-hour setup window, workers departed, and the wealthy and influential arrived. This event is distinct from the 1913 Armory Show, officially titled the International Exhibition of Modern Art, which was held at the smaller, older 69th Regiment Armory downtown. That exhibition, organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS), aimed to introduce Americans to modern European art and challenge the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act. It featured works by 300 artists, about a hundred from Europe, including Kandinsky, Gauguin, Géricault, and Picasso.

Art collector and lawyer John Quinn opened the 1913 show, stating:“It was time the American people had an opportunity to see and judge for themselves concerning the work of the Europeans who are creating a new art.” Though not well-received by New York audiences, the show attracted large crowds. Critics widely disparaged the art, with one New York Times writer likening Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase to“an explosion in a shingle factory.” Despite initial reception, the work sold.

Companies spent the entire year planning for the fall armory show, as it launched the fair season and set the pace for firms traveling to multiple fairs across the U.S. and Europe. One firm's organizer managed the armory shows, overseeing a core crew of about five skilled art handlers and hiring up to 30 freelancers, referred to as“ants,” specifically for moving boxes during installation. Planning began weeks before the show, involving up to 10 40-foot containers, each holding a hundred crates of art. These had to be unloaded, unpacked, categorized, and stored. Crates varied significantly in weight, from several tons to those that could be carried by hand.

A skilled art handler required construction expertise, patience, awareness for delicate and expensive objects, and a grounding in art history. During the setup, most art handlers in the country would be at the armory show. The setup process was also marked by corruption; a“door master,” an old teamster, would receive cash payments, and a thicker envelope meant an easier job. The only authority higher than the doorkeeper was the armory's Colonel, as the venue remained an official military garrison.

Construction often continued as artwork arrived, with hundreds of union carpenters, electricians, and painters erecting walls and pulling cables, showing disregard for art handlers and freelancers. Forklifts and rolling scaffolding often took precedence. Basic security involved a single sticker placed by the art handlers themselves, verifying that outgoing crates were empty and had been brought in by their team. However, artworks occasionally went missing due to theft or were damaged by accident. Many workers on the armory floor lacked experience or respect for art. Stories abound of destroyed artworks, including a Jean Arp being painted white and Jim Dine prints cut down on a bandsaw. One incident involved a forklift operator deliberately dropping a bin of framed paintings and drawings. Some service crews provided by the venue were insufficiently skilled to handle complex prefabricated gallery interiors, which sometimes required dealers to import dedicated crews.

Dealers, assistants, and hangers-on would arrive on the first morning to begin installing art. Some experienced dealers quickly hung pieces, while others, treating each show as their first, caused hours of shifting and re-arranging, leading to arguments among business partners or spouses over booth organization. These disputes could last all day and into the night, with pieces being swapped until the last moment. The core installation crew often worked from Friday night until opening day without leaving the building, sometimes still present when critics, VIPs, and socialites arrived for the opening.

We previously reported:

The groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show featured 50 women artists among its 300 exhibitors, a significant representation for its time and a precursor to later

Source: Observer Arts

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