THE SOCIETE ANONYME: MODERNISM IN AMERICA
Wednesday, May 24
7 p.m.
Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd. (Westwood)

The Société Anonyme was formed by Katherine S. Dreier and
Marcel Duchamp in order to disseminate modern art in
America through a succession of exhibitions and lectures
during the 1920s and 1930s that introduced the American
public to European and American avant-garde artists. In
1941, Dreier and Duchamp transferred the Société Anonyme
Collection to Yale University in order to continue the
educational aspirations of the organization.

As part of a new exhibition, UCLA art historian George
Baker has organized a discussion on the importance of the
Societe Anonyme as the first "experimental museum" for
contemporary art in the United States. Baker is assistant
professor of art history at UCLA, an editor of October
magazine, a critic for Artforum, and is currently preparing
the book "The Artwork Caught by the Tail: Francis Picabia
and Dada in Paris."

Meet the panelists:

Miwon Kwon is associate professor of contemporary art
history at UCLA and the author of "One Place After Another:
Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity." Richard Meyer
is associate professor of art history at the University of
Southern California. His book, "Outlaw Representation:
Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American
Art," received the Charles C. Eldredge Prize. Nancy J. Troy
is professor of modern art at University of Southern
California, president of the National Committee for the
History of Art, and is currently working on a book about
Piet Mondrian.

"The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America" presents over
240 works by 100 artists that chart the development of
modern art in the early 20th century. The exhibition is on
view through August 20 and features works by such diverse
and renowned artists as Josef Albers, Alexander Archipenko,
Alexander Calder, Arthur Dove, Louis Eilshemius, Max Ernst,
Paul Gauguin, Arshile Gorky, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand
Léger, Henri Matisse, Roberto Matta, Pablo Picasso, Man
Ray, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Stella, and Jacques Villon,
among many others. Free. 310-443-7000

[parking is $3]

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