Gertrude Stein succinctly agrees (d)
      You can have a museum. You can have modern art. You cannot have a
Museum of Modern Art.

Sorry cannot recall the source.

Lois

> From: "David E. Haberstich" <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 03:04:08 EDT
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: "Contemporary Art" cutoff date
>
> In a message dated 01-09-07 02:02:04 EDT, Stephen Nowlin writes:
>
> << Consider, though, the hapless museum of contemporary art, which goes on
> forever acquiring what is current -- until enough time and change has
> elapsed so that 90% (and climbing) of its collection is not
> "contemporary" at all, but relics of the past!  Two hundred years hence,
> will the year 2201 contemporary art museum boast that it only collects
> art made since 1945? >>
>
> That's exactly why I suggested that a true "museum" of contemporary art, in
> the sense of maintaining a permanent collection of work that was
> "contemporary" when first acquired or exhibited but is by definition no
> longer contemporary, must emphasize the time-bound features of the older
> works in the collection and how they exemplified or fitted into their period
> when they WERE "contemporary."  This is not a revolutionary idea, of course,
> and I believe contemporary (pardon the expression) scholarship tends to do
> this as a matter of course, as opposed to the more simple-minded assumption
> that all "good" art is merely timeless and doesn't need to be understood
> within its historical context and whatever else was happening around it.  A
> museum of contemporary art doesn't need to be hapless at all, but can embrace
> and explicate the transitory nature of creative expression within its milieu.
> A museum which collects and exhibits "contemporary" works, which soon enough
> become non-contemporary vis-a-vis the present (pardon THAT expression, but
> time, being fleeting, is deucedly hard to grasp and describe) would be
> well-positioned to educate its public about issues of how art both reflects
> and influences its time.
>
> What would be interesting in this discussion would be to see authoritative
> voices from museums of contemporary art (preferably with the word
> "contemporary" in their titles) explain what it is they think they're doing.
> If "contemporary" has been highjacked to refer to a specific style or
> attitude, rather than simply meaning whatever is current now, it's too bad.
> We'll have the (shudder) post-contemporary style to look forward to.  It's
> bad enough that "modern" came to mean a fairly specific period and set of
> styles, confusing the layman who thought he knew what modern meant.  At least
> the Museum of Modern Art doesn't seem to worry too much about when "modern"
> ended, and implicitly includes the older sense.  The posts on this subject
> (mine included) amply demonstrate how baffled we already are about
> "contemporary."  I don't even want to think about the "end" of
> contemporary--it sounds like the end of time.  Viva contemporary!
>
> David Haberstich
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/
> . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a
> one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the
> message should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
> Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).