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Encountering the Museum
Readings:“The History of Collecting and the Growth of Art Museums,” 4-14.
Terms/Concepts:museum, mouseion, muses, treasury, pinakotheke, chapel, ambulatory, reliquary, wunderkammer, Enlightenment, white cube, framing devices,
Monument List: Treasury of the Siphnians,
Sanctuary to Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 550-530 BCE.
Domenico Remps, Scarabottolo, 1675.
Hubert Robert, Design for the Grande Galerie in the Louvre, Paris, 1796.
Resnick Pavillion, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
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Artist
Art Viewer
Context
Cont
ext Context
WhereWhen
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Defining the Museum
Etymologically: Our word museum comes from the word “mouseion” or “home of the muses.”
Denotatively: a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.
Historically: locations where the collections and riches of a kingdom or a single person are kept.
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The Mouseion:“The Home of the Muses”
Baldassarre Peruzzi, Apollo and the Muses, 1514-1523.
Clio = History Thalia = Comedy
Erato = Love Poetry
Euterpe = Song Polyhymnia = Hymns
Calliope = Epic Poetry Terpsichore = Dance Melpomene = Tragedy
Urania = Astronomy
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Treasury of the Siphnians, Sanctuary to Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 550-530 BCE.
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Treasury of the Siphnians, Sanctuary to Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 550-530 BCE.
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Propylaia (center), Temple of Athena Nike (right), Pinakotheke (Left). Acropolis, Athens. c. 450-430 BCE
Pinakotheke
Propylaia
Temple of Athena Nike
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Library at Alexandria, Egypt, c. 323-31 BCE.
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Museum at Alexandria, Library of Alexandria, c. 323-31 CE
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Museum at Alexandria, Library of Alexandria, c. 323-31 CE
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The Middle Ages:Reliquaries and Chapels
Radiating Chapels and Ambulatory, St. Denis, Cathedral, Paris, France, 1145.
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The Middle Ages:Reliquaries and Chapels
Radiating Chapels and Ambulatory, St. Denis, Cathedral, Paris, France, 1145.
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The Middle Ages:Reliquaries and Chapels
Radiating Chapels and Ambulatory, St. Denis, Cathedral, Paris, France, 1145.
Chapel Ambulatory
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The Middle Ages:Reliquaries and Chapels
Apse with Reliquaries, Ste. Chapelle, Paris, France, 1370 CE.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
European Trade Routes of the 15th and 16th century.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
Musei Wormiani Historia, Italy, 16th century.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
Domenico Remps, Scarabattolo, 1675.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
Schloss Ambras, Kunst- and Wunderkammer, 17th Century.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
Schloss Ambras, Kunst- and Wunderkammer, 17th Century.
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The Early Modern:“Wunderkammer”
William van Haecht, Kunstkammer of Cornelius van der Geest, 1628.
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The Early Modern:Private Collections
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, 1658.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, opened 1683.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
The British Museum, London, founded 1753.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
The Enlightenment Room, The British Museum, London, opened 1759.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
The Enlightenment Room, The British Museum, London, opened 1759.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
The Louvre, Paris, Opened to the public in 1793.
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The Enlightenment:Pictures go Public
Hubert Robert, Design for the Grande Galerie in the Louvre, Paris, 1796.
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Almost nothing displayed in museums was made to be seen in them.--Susan Vogel
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A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display”
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A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display”
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A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display”
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A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display”
Zande Net Jackie Winsor, Double Circle
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Framing Devices in Museums
Choice of objects to display.
The grouping or separation of objects.
The categorization of objects.
The location of displays. The design of displays. The didactic materials.
Museums “frame” our understanding and interpretation of cultures and historical periods.
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Museum Displays Can…
Tell a story. Create relationships. Contextualize objects. Lend importance to
objects. Declare an object to be
an artwork or an artifact.
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Navigating Space
Daniel Liebskind, Hamilton Building, Denver Art Museum, 2011.
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Navigating Space
Plan of the Hamilton Building and the North Building, Denver Art Museum.
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Navigating Space:The White Cube
Resnick Pavillion, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
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Navigating Space
Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver, founded in 1980.
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Grouping
Thunder Bay Museum, Thunder Bay, Ontario
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Grouping
Lawrence A. Fleischmann Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
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Grouping
Portland Art Museum
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Positioning
Paris Salon, 18th century.
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Lighting
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
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Lighting
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
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Reading Room, Denver Art Museum, 2011.
The Enlightenment Room, British Museum
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Questions to ask yourself…
1. How does the space operate? Is it small? Large? Does it encourage or discourage interaction with the art or others?
2. What is the scope of this exhibit? What objects are chosen? Why might they be chosen? What are you supposed to learn?
3. How are objects displayed? Are they grouped together? Separated? What relationships do you see among objects?
4. Are objects presented as artworks or artifacts?5. How are the space and objects lit? Is the room bright?
Dark? Does the lighting add a sense of drama? Does it highlight particular objects?
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Major Goals
How does the development of public museums follow the same developments of artists and patrons?
What is the significance of Susan Vogel’s statement: “Almost nothing displayed in museums was made to be seen in them?”
How do museum displays impact how you perceive a particular culture or set of objects?