Locating American Art: Finding Art's Meaning in Museums, Colonial Period to the Present

ISBN-13: 9781472467997 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 316 str.

Cynthia Fowler

Opis

How does museum location shape the interpretation of an art object by critics, curators, art historians, and others? To what extent is the value of a work of art determined by its location? Providing a close examination of individual works of American art in relation to gallery and museum location, this anthology presents case studies of paintings, sculpture, photographs, and other media that explore these questions about the relationship between location and the prescribed meaning of art. It takes an alternate perspective in that it provides in-depth analysis of works of art that are less well known than the usual American art suspects, and in locations outside of art museums in major urban cultural centers. By doing so, the contributors to this volume reveal that such a shift in focus yields an expanded and more complex understanding of American art. Close examinations are given to works located in small and mid-sized art museums throughout the United States, museums that generally do not benefit from the resources afforded by more powerful cultural establishments such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Works of art located at institutions other than art museums are also examined. Although the book primarily focuses on paintings, other media created from the Colonial Period to the present are considered, including material culture and craft. The volume takes an inclusive approach to American art by featuring works created by a diverse group of artists from canonical to lesser-known ones, and provides new insights by highlighting the regional and the local.

Recenzje

'Locating American Art is truly groundbreaking in every sense of the word. With its focus on lesser-known collections, this compendium of essays by a diverse group of scholars unearths manifold treasures in unexpected places far from the metropolis and its powerful institutions. Excitingly eclectic in its approach, the book embraces artists both canonical and obscure, celebrated and utterly unsung, and arrays them on a level playing field. It vividly suggests just how much there is still to discover by venturing beyond the center and delving wholeheartedly into the rich ground of the periphery. Altogether, Locating American Art is an invigorating departure from business as usual.' Sarah Burns, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

'An impressive achievement, Locating American Art is a tightly knit anthology of case studies that shifts attention from our usual focus on major artworks in major collections to those that reside in university museums, historic houses, even high schools and department stores. Forcing us to recognize that the institution an artwork calls home shapes its interpretation, it implicitly critiques the canon and offers alternative narratives for art of the United States. The range of participating authors, their diverse methodologies and probing scholarship make this an exciting and significant volume. "Location, location, location," the mantra of real estate, should now also be embraced by art history. This book has the potential to be a game-changer.' Katherine Manthorne, City University of New York, USA

O autorze

Cynthia Fowler is an art historian and Professor of Art at Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, USA.