Hills’ essay traces Alfred H. Barr Jr.’s formulation of Abstract Expressionism as the embodiment of US values of freedom and artistic quality during the Cold War. Drawing on the Museum’s archives and Barr’s handbook to the collection “What is Modern Painting?” published in multiple editions and languages, she analyzes this influential guidebook to the collection, … Continue reading “Truth, Freedom, Perfection” Alfred Barr’s What Is Modern Painting? As Cold War Rhetoric
Canon
The Problem of Our American Collection: MoMA Collects at Home
In this essay for the exhibition catalogue of MoMA’s collection, Adler surveys definitions of art of the United States in the Museum prior to the canonization of Abstract Expressionism. Drawing on the Museum’s archive, she sheds light on museum founder and director Alfred H. Barr Jr.’s collecting priorities; internal struggles with trustees; political controversies related … Continue reading The Problem of Our American Collection: MoMA Collects at Home
Introduction: Canons and Art History
Brzyski’s essay provides a useful framework to analyze the evolution of art historical canons. She argues that scholars need to interrogate the mechanisms through which often unquestioned hierarchies of artistic value are created by art historians and curators. In other words, she calls for the study of “the mechanics of the canonical system: how and … Continue reading Introduction: Canons and Art History
