Signs of Revolt.

Between 1910 and 1920 three fundamental concepts concerning art in America were seriously reconsidered: what "art" is, who makes decisions about standards, and how art is shared with the viewing public. At the start of the decade the American art world was largely controlled by the National Academy of Design, which promoted and exhibited American works in established genres, such as those of landscape painter Winslow Homer, portraitist John Singer Sargent, and impressionist William Merritt Chase. Then, in 1908, a group of artists who became known as The Eight — Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, George Luks, Everett Shinn, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, and Arthur B. Davies — put on an exhibition of their works, nearly all of which (except two by Henri) had been rejected by the academy. In 1910 the group held a larger, open show, the Exhibition of Independent Artists, featuring five...