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Spaces of Experience: Art Gallery Interiors from 1800 to 2000
This fascinating study of art gallery interiors examines the changing ideals and practices of galleries in Europe and North America from the 18th to the late 20th century. It offers a detailed account of the different displays that have been created—the colors of the background walls, lighting, furnishings, the height and density of the art works on show—and it traces the different scientific, political and commercial influences that lay behind their development.
Charlotte Klonk shows that scientists like Hermann von Helmholtz and Wilhelm Wundt advanced theories of perception that played a significant role in justifying new modes of exhibiting. Equally important for the changing modes of exhibition in art galleries was what Michael Baxandall has called “the period eye,” a way of seeing informed by the impact of new fashions in interior decoration and by department store and shop window displays. The history of museum interiors, she argues, should be appreciated as a revealing chapter in the broader history of experience.
Charlotte Klonk shows that scientists like Hermann von Helmholtz and Wilhelm Wundt advanced theories of perception that played a significant role in justifying new modes of exhibiting. Equally important for the changing modes of exhibition in art galleries was what Michael Baxandall has called “the period eye,” a way of seeing informed by the impact of new fashions in interior decoration and by department store and shop window displays. The history of museum interiors, she argues, should be appreciated as a revealing chapter in the broader history of experience.
- GenresArtCurationArt History
244 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2022
Spaces of Experience Art Gallery Interiors from 1800 to 2000
by Charlotte Klonk
I found this history of art gallery interiors very interesting. The book also goes into the 20th century, when display strategies changed a lot because artworks had more space. Klonk’s book is mostly focused on France, Germany and the West so it is not complete, but it gives us a very interesting account of how we have changed. Spaces of Experience is a good toolbox and also very good for somebody who is not in the art world.
by Charlotte Klonk
I found this history of art gallery interiors very interesting. The book also goes into the 20th century, when display strategies changed a lot because artworks had more space. Klonk’s book is mostly focused on France, Germany and the West so it is not complete, but it gives us a very interesting account of how we have changed. Spaces of Experience is a good toolbox and also very good for somebody who is not in the art world.
March 30, 2010
Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of the Serpentine Gallery, has chosen to discuss Charlotte Klonk’s Spaces of Experience Art Gallery Interiors from 1800 to 2000 on FiveBooks as one of the top five on his subject- Contemporary Arts, saying that:
“…I found this history of art gallery interiors very interesting. The book also goes into the 20th century, when display strategies changed a lot because artworks had more space. Klonk’s book is mostly focused on Germany and the West so it is not complete, but it gives us a very interesting account of how we have changed. Spaces of Experience is a good toolbox and also very good for somebody who is not in the art world…”
The full interview is available here: http://five-books.com/interviews/hans...
“…I found this history of art gallery interiors very interesting. The book also goes into the 20th century, when display strategies changed a lot because artworks had more space. Klonk’s book is mostly focused on Germany and the West so it is not complete, but it gives us a very interesting account of how we have changed. Spaces of Experience is a good toolbox and also very good for somebody who is not in the art world…”
The full interview is available here: http://five-books.com/interviews/hans...
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October 7, 2022This was required reading for my Curatorship History and Evolution class at uni.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews