“The cruel truth is that free museum entry has turned out to be a mixed blessing. Yes, the number of visitors going to galleries has increased dramatically, but the figures are not what they seem. A Mori poll conducted in 2002 discovered that, although numbers had increased, the make-up of the typical museumgoer had remained unchanged. What was actually happening was that the same people were going more often. And those people were, as before, the middle-class, the educated, the culturally involved.”
Tag: 04.27.08
Boston Museum of Fine Arts Gets Back Its Entrance
The museum abandoned its grand entrance in the 70s. Now it’s reopening. “The MFA has hauled in 110 blocks of granite – a quarter of the stone produced each year on Maine’s Deer Isle – to expand and resurface the landing in front of the doors, which first opened in 1915. Inside the Evans Wing, the museum is installing a new visitors’ center with retro ’50s-style furniture.”
The Point Of Arts Criticism?
“People who worry about the present state of criticism tend to fall into the trap of regarding it as a public service. The health of the arts, they say, depends on a robust and vigorous culture of criticism. I sympathise with the view and occasionally feel flattered by it. But I think it inflates the role of critics. In place of public edification, I believe criticism is better seen as a (potential) public pleasure. It sounds obvious, but a piece of criticism, in the first instance, has to be worth reading.”