Modern in the Making: MoMA and the Modern Experiment, 19291949

(Paperback)

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Today the Museum of Modern Art is widely recognized for establishing the canon of modern art; yet in its early years, the museum considered modern art part of a still unfolding experiment in contemporary visual production. By bracketing MoMAs early history from its later reputation, this book explores the ways the Museum acted as a laboratory to set an ambitious agenda for the exhibition of a multidisciplinary idea of modern art. Between its founding in 1929 and its 20th anniversary in 1949, MoMA created the first museum departments of architecture and design, film, and photography in the country, marshaled modern art as a political tool, and brought consumer culture into a versatile yet institutional context. Encompassing 14 essays that investigate the diversity of modern art, this volume demonstrates how MoMAs programming shaped a version of modern art that was not elitist but fundamentally intertwined with all levels of cultural production.

Reviews

For those accustomed to thinking of the history of MoMA in terms of Alfred Barrs canon-setting chart, this collection is an eye opener, exploring the wide range of early MoMA exhibitions in such domains as popular culture, design, performance, and rock art. An important contribution to the ongoing work of producing a critical history of museums. * Daniel J. Sherman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA *
That MoMA in its early years was a more open-ended and risk-taking institution than it is today is generally known but howin what waysit was so remains a largely untold story. This wide-ranging, wellresearched, and eye-opening collection of essays offers new insights into the history of one of the worlds most prominent museums. * Andrew McClellan, Tufts University, USA *

Author Bio

Austin Porter is Assistant Professor of Art History and American Studies at Kenyon College, USA. Sandra Zalman is Associate Professor and Program Director of Art History at the University of Houston, USA.