Visited by millions around the world every year, discover the untold story of the history of the institution of the museum, one of mankind’s most essential creations.
Using examples of the greatest cultural institutions to shape the narrative, this book outlines the history of the museum movement, tracking the evolution from princely collections in Europe and the Enlightenment’s classically inspired temples of curiosities, via the public museums of the late nineteenth century, on to today’s global era oficonic buildings designed by the world’s leading architects.
Over the course of five chapters filled with stunning imagery that highlights the beauty of these venerated buildings, the origins of key institutions are revealed, including:
- Louvre
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- British Museum
- Tate Modern
- Hermitage
- Guggenheim
- Smithsonian Institute
- Acropolis Museum
Also outlined are the motivations of the architects, curators and patrons who have shaped how we experience the modern museum, a cast that includes names such as King George II, Napoleon, Henry Clay Frick, Peggy Guggenheim, Andrew Carnegie, Alfred Barr, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Serota and Zaha Hadid.
By examining how these venues became intrinsic to our shared cultural experience, analysing the changing roles they play in society and questioning what the future holds in a digital age, this book is for anyone who has stood in awe at the spectacle of a museum.
Contents: North America:
1. Smithsonian, Washington DC (mentions of National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Zoological Park, the Freer Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden)
2. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
3. American Museum of Natural History
4. Frick Museum, NYC
5. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
6. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard, Boston
7. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
8. Guggenheim, NYC
9. Carnegie Museums, Pittsburg
10. Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, Ohio
11. Denver Art Museum
12. SFMOMA, San Francisco
13. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
14. MOCA, LA
15. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC
16. Milwaukee Art Museum
17. Figge Art Museum, Iowa
18. St Louis Art Museum, Missouri
19. de Young Museum in San Francisco
20. Anchorage Museum, Alaska
21. The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
22. Royal Ontario Museum
23. Museum National des Beaux Arts, Quebec
24. Art Gallery of Ontario
UK:
25. Tate Modern, London
26. National Gallery, London
27. British Museum, London
28. Royal Academy, London
29. Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
30. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
31. Imperial War Museum, Manchester
32. Manchester Art Gallery
33. Tate Liverpool
34. National Glass Centre, Sunderland
35. BALTIC, Newcastle
36. New Art Gallery, Walsall
37. Turner Contemporary, Margate
38. River and Rowing Museum, Henley
39. Hepworth, Wakefield
Europe:
40. Le Louvre, Paris, France
41. Galerie du Temps, Louvre Lens, France
42. Pompidou Centre, Paris, France
43. Carre d’Art, Nimes, France
44. Musee de Confluences, Lyon, France
45. Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain
46. Prado, Madrid, Spain
47. Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain
48. The Uffizi, Florence, Italy
49. The Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy
50. MAXXI Rome, Italy
51. Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography, Rome, Italy
52. MUDEC, Milan, Italy
53. New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
54. Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
55. Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany
56. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany
57. Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany
58. James-Simon-Galerie, Berlin, Germany
59. Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
60. Abteiberg Museum in Moenchengladbach, Germany
61. Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
62. Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach, Germany
63. Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
64. Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
65. Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
66. The Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia
67. Garage Museum, Moscow, Russia
68. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Holland
69. Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Holland
70. Groninger Museum, Groningen, Holland
71. Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
72. Weltmuseum, Vienna, Austria
73. Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria
74. Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
75. Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium, Brussels
76. Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Rest of World:
77. Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
78. Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, Brazil
79. Museum of Black Civilisations, Dakar, Senegal
80. National Museum of China, Beijing, China
81. The Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
82. China Art Palace, Shanghai, China
83. Guangzhou Opera House, China
84. Ordos Museum, Inner Mongolia, China
85. Qujing History Museum, YunnanProvince, China
86. Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, China
87. Changsha Meixihu International Culture and Art Centre, Hunan Province, China
88. Nanjing Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing China
89. Ningbo History Museum, Zhejiang Province, China
90. V&A, Shenzen, China
91. West Bund Museum, Shanghai, China
92. National Museum of Qatar, Doha
93. The Louvre, Abu Dhabi
94. Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
95. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongawera, Wellington, New Zealand
96. The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
97. Tokyo National Museum, Japan
98. Chohachi Art Museum, Matsuzaki, Shizuoka, Japan
99. Edo-Tokyo Museum, Japan
100. Rias Ark Museum of Art, Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan
101. Kihoku Astronomical Museum, Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan
102. Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
103. Okanoyama Graphic Art Museum, Nishiwaki City, Japan
104. Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Japan
105. Benesse House Museum, Kagawa, Japan
106. Asia Museum of Modern Art, Taiwan
107. Bonte Museum, Seogwipo, South Korea
108. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Seoul, South Korea
109. National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
110. National Folk Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
111. Iraq Museum, Baghdad
