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What was the purpose of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.'s diagram in the Cubism and Abstract Art exhibition catalog?

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Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, designed by Sir James Stirling, featuring tan stone walls, a slanted green-framed glass window, and colorful blue and pink railings. — Museum of modern art The New State Gallery (Neue Staatsgalerie), Stuttgart, Germany, designed by James Stirling, completed in 1984.

Alfred H. Barr, Jr.’s hand-drawn flowchart, which first appeared on the dust jacket of the 1936 Cubism and Abstract Art exhibition catalog, served as a fundamental visual aid for understanding the development of modern art.1

The diagram was designed to illustrate the lineage of avant-garde movements, positioning Cubism as the central, seminal movement from which other styles evolved. According to the chart, Cubism derived from the work of Paul Cézanne, Neo-Impressionism, and Henri Rousseau, and it directly led to movements such as Suprematism, Constructivism, and De Stijl, ultimately culminating in abstract art.2

By creating this "orthodox formal high line," Barr provided a framework for distinguishing between what he termed "geometric" and "non-geometric" art. While the diagram became highly influential in shaping America's understanding of Modernism, it has since been criticized for its one-dimensional, formalist approach, which marginalized movements like Dadaism and Surrealism by shunting them to the side.12