In 1913, the Armory Show introduced European modernist painting and sculpture to a mesmerized (and often scandalized) American public. For many young American artists, however, it was a wakeup call. Encountering modernism as a guard at the Chicago venue of the Armory Show, Karl Knaths went on to become a leading American working in a cubist idiom. His pictures, while abstract, usually contain readily identifiable subjects. Here, the title, Havana Bandana, helps the viewer along. Knaths was awarded first prize in the Metropolitan Museum’s “American Painting Today” competition of 1950, cementing his reputation as an important modernist. His high profile at that time made Knaths a logical choice for local builder and developer Edward Joseph Gallagher, Jr. to include in the group of then-contemporary artists whose paintings were presented to the BMA in 1952.