Why do art museums exist? It may seem natural to us that there are different kinds of institutions for collecting different objects—paintings, sculptures, fossils, geological samples. But at the burgeoning of a new collecting impulse as an intellectual activity in Europe in the 16th century, such distinctions and institutions did not yet exist. In this course we will trace the development of the art museum from Renaissance Kunst—und Wunderkammern (art and natural wonder chambers) to the increased emphasis on categorizing and displaying such artifacts separately with the Enlightenment. The 19th century in Europe saw to the widespread founding of art museums as examples of nationalistic cultural pride, a movement then echoed in the United States. Examination of the leading role that North American art museums played after WWII will help bring our survey to a close, along with a consideration of contemporary art museum architecture as a draw for tourists as much as the art found inside.
This course is part of the Senior Scholars Program.