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    Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust
    Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust
    Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust
    Ebook197 pages4 hours

    Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust

    By James Cuno, Philippe de Montebello, Glenn D. Lowry and

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    About this ebook

    During the economic boom of the 1990s, art museums expanded dramatically in size, scope, and ambition. They came to be seen as new civic centers: on the one hand as places of entertainment, leisure, and commerce, on the other as socially therapeutic institutions. But museums were also criticized for everything from elitism to looting or illegally exporting works from other countries, to exhibiting works offensive to the public taste.



    Whose Muse? brings together five directors of leading American and British art museums who together offer a forward-looking alternative to such prevailing views. While their approaches differ, certain themes recur: As museums have become increasingly complex and costly to manage, and as government support has waned, the temptation is great to follow policies driven not by a mission but by the market. However, the directors concur that public trust can be upheld only if museums continue to see their core mission as building collections that reflect a nation's artistic legacy and providing informed and unfettered access to them.


    The book, based on a lecture series of the same title held in 2000-2001 by the Harvard Program for Art Museum Directors, also includes an introduction by Cuno and a fascinating--and surprisingly frank--roundtable discussion among the participating directors. A rare collection of sustained reflections by prominent museum directors on the current state of affairs in their profession, this book is without equal. It will be read widely not only by museum professionals, trustees, critics, and scholars, but also by the art-loving public itself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateJun 5, 2018
    ISBN9780691188683
    Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust

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    • 4/5
      "Whose Muse" is a book which looks at the role of art museums in Western society and their rlationship with the public. There are six essays written by noteworthy directors of art museums.For me two of these stand out: "The Object of Art Museums" by Jams Cuno (Courtauld) and "Pictures, Tears, Lights, and Seats" by John Walsh (Getty Museum - LA). These two essays take the museum-goer through the experience of visiting an art museum, realizing that this is both educational and aesthetic. The way a museum shows a given room or an exhibition has considerable influence on ones experience. Whether or not the exhibitor juxtapostions pieces of art for a certain effect or statement is perhaps useful to know. For me it has been startling to see a certain theory of painting placement at the Barnes Foundation outside of Philadelphia, but it was a revelation to see one painting looking at reflecting another at the Frick Collection in New York. Some ideas discussed in the book include what size of attendance is acceptable for a good enjoyment of an exhibit, how lighting and seating help us to enjoy what we are looking at, the tension between philanthropy and commerce, what makes up "success," and so forth. A valuable book.

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