Art and the Power of Placement

An ancient sculpture decorating a secluded courtyard, a Renaissance masterpiece revered in the serenity of a church, a Modern painting exhibited in a crowded museum: each of these exemplifies the power of placement to confer meaning on an artwork. In this absorbing study, author Victoria Newhouse examines the charged zone where spectator and art object meet. Long neglected by art books and museum catalogs, the link between presentation and art is critical to the understanding of such objects.
Whether in a museum of a commercial gallery, a royal palace or a modest home, the place and manner of display can bestow a meaning that is religious, political, educational, or decorative, and can even affect aesthetic and commercial values. Newhouse tackles a collection of fascinating case studies, including the Winged Victorys tortuous route from the Sanctuary of the Great Gods in Samothrace to the Louvres monumental stairway, three interpretations of an assortment of Egyptian antiquities, and various installations of Jackson Pollocks mural-sized paintings. She concludes with an overview of how presentation has affected some of the great icons of art historyfrom Velázquezs Jester to Picassos Demoiselles dAvignonand a discussion of approaches to the exhibition of decorative art and architecture.

Past and present alike inform the authors investigation of the intricacies of presenting art. Famed historic displaysthe studiolo and cabinet of curiosities, the Paris Salons, and the attention-getting blockbustersprovide points of comparison with recent exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Pulitzer Foundation in St. Louis, the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain in London, the Musée dOrsay in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, the Guggenheim Bilbao, and numerous other venues. A thorough and wide-ranging inquiry, Art and the Power of Placement elucidates an essential aspect of the art experience.


Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Monacelli (May 9, 2005)