"When Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Institute in 1895, one of his bold ambitions was to create a museum of modern art as part of the institute. The exhibition series he established in the following year would become the linchpin of that scheme. Through the exhibition, Carnegie sought to educate audiences, attract the art world to Pittsburgh, and above all, to build a collection through the purchase of the ‘old masters of tomorrow’." "While the mission of Carnegie International has remained constant over the years, it has had many incarnations. In 1896, the show was established as a yearly survey and presented as the Annual Exhibition."