What was Modern? (1910-1914)

Abstract Painting

Auguste Herbin, A Study (NA 10.8 art supplement, December 21, 1911)

In November of 1911, Huntly Carter, then The New Age’s in-house art critic, announced that a Picasso Study would be included in that week’s issue, the first in a series of ABSTRACT PAINTINGS to be reproduced in the magazine. This series was intended to introduce British readers to the newest developments in continental art, giving them access to paintings that could otherwise not be seen outside of the galleries and salons of Paris. More than any others printed in the magazine, these works were the subject of fierce debate – critics derided Picasso’s failure to represent, or expressed puzzlement about the images’ orientation on the page. Only one British contribution appeared in this series, A Study by M. Ben Zies, and it was intended as a spoof. This suggests that British art stood, for Carter, in a highly problematic relation to continental abstraction: French (and Italian) artists produced truly innovative works, but the British were capable only of insincere imitation and parody.