Art and the Power of Placement by Victoria Newhouse
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: May 2005
- Publisher: The Monacelli Press
- Format: Hardcover, 304pp
- ISBN-13: 9781580931489
- ISBN: 1580931480
Synopsis
Where and how an artwork is presented can enhance it or detract from it, or even alter its meaning. Depending on the display, painting and sculpture can denote a religious, political, decorative, or educational significance, as well as aesthetic and commercial value. Just how powerful the effect of placement can be is demonstrated in this book by in-depth case studies and comparisons of art installations around the world and from antiquity to the present, all richly illustrated.
Author Victoria Newhouse continues the investigation she began in her last book, Towards a New Museum, of the critical relationship between container and contents. Not limited to museums, Newhouse branches out to explore noteworthy displays of art in commercial galleries and in private homes and gardens, as well as in a number of unusual venues. She concludes with some guidelines for display that apply as much to the hanging of a picture in a private interior as to the installation of a museum show.
Biography
Victoria Newhouse is an architectural historian and the author of Towards a New Museum and Wallace K. Harrison, Architect. She also founded and directed the Architectural History Foundation, a nonprofit publisher of scholarly books.
Customer Reviews
Art and the Power of Placementby Anonymous
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May 16, 2006: Victoria Newhouse adds to her growing list of superb publications (Towards a New Museum, Wallace K. Harrison) this insightful volume about art and the importance of presentation. These curatorial decisions are shared for the first time in a manner that is readable and informative and provides a pathway to understanding the subtleties of 'showing art'. When a painting or a sculpture impacts us, makes us stop in our museum promenade and freezes our attention long enough to send our minds back to the origins of the work as well as free our eyes to truly SEE the art, there is in Newhouse's informative writing a reason that goes beyond the greatness of the work itself. From the color of the walls in the space to the lighting techniques to the proximity of other works of art and their ability to enhance - all these are issues Newhouse not only discusses, but also illustrates in this richly colorful book.Newhouse takes the time to walk us through the history of presentation in museums, palaces, churches, and public spaces, even finding such odd manner of hanging as the 'studiolo' concept one to define and illustrate. Through these references she guides us into the sanctum sanctorum of curatorial decisions and how today's museum curators not only organize an exhibition, but also study and execute the hanging with all the modern accoutrements that make the exhibition a meaningful experience for the viewer. This fine, lavishly illustrated volume is so well written that it must become a bible for all museums, but it is also available to the public, allowing those of us who ponder greatness some windows into the thoughtful logistics of art presentation. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
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