To commemorate 100 years (1913-2013) after the Armory Show in New York, the USPS celebrates the work of twelve modern artists who have ‘forever’ influenced the world of art.

The Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. It opened on February 17, 1913 and displayed works by both European and American modern artists.

The list of artists included Impressionists, Cubists, and Fauvists. Familiar European artists from the time were shown: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, Marcel Duchamp, and Paul Cezanne.

The Armory Show’s most famous paintings exhibited were: Henri Matisse’s "Blue Nude," "Madras Rouge" ("Red Madras Headdress"), and Marcel Duchamp’s "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2."

Including both American and European art, the exhibition displayed over 1,300 paintings, sculptures, photography, and decorative works.
To view the galleries at the Armory Show, visit the University of Virginia’s website: virginia.edu/~MUSEUM/Armory/galleries

Following the Armory Show, the exhibit was then shown at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Copley Society of Art in Boston, where all the work by the American artists was removed, due to lack of space.



The twelve artists and their work on the US Forever Stamps are:
Marcel Duchamp’s "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" (1912)
Marsden Hartley’s "Painting, Number 5" (1914-1915)
John Marin’s "Sunset, Maine Coast" (1919)
Joseph Stella’s "Brooklyn Bridge" (1919-1920)
Gerald Murphy’s "Razor" (1924)
Man Ray’s "Noire et Blanche" (1926)
Aaron Douglas’ "The Prodigal Son" (1927)
Charles Demuth’s "I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold" (1928)
Arthur Dove’s "Fog Horns" (1929)
Georgia O’Keeffe’s "Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie’s II" (1930)
Charles Sheeler’s "American Landscape" (1930)
Stuart Davis’ "House and Street" (1931)

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armory Show, numerous exhibitions are being shown in 2013, including "The Armory Show at 100" sponsored by the New York Historical Society," running October 18, 2013 - February 23, 2014.