Illustrations of The Art History Survey
Peter Hales
illustrative, appropriately interrogatory-- for a special issue of
ARTJOURNAL devoted to The Art History Survey. I am putting together two
series of images that seem interesting:
1. Art as Survey: I'm looking for works of art (preferably both
canonical and non-canonical) that present within their boundaries some
sort of survey of art, or some investigation of the notion of a narrative
canon to the history of art. The most obvious example is American
painter Samuel F.B. Morse's "In the Galleries of the Louvre", which was
meant to serve as a surrogate art-history survey text for his benighted
fellow Americans seeking some knowledge of the canon of European art.
For that, I've found a pamphlet that originally accompanied and
"explained" the painting to its 19th century viewers. I've thought as
well about photographs made in (and about) museums-as-surveys-- including,
for example, those by Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand.
2. Museum as Survey: Here I'm seeking "maps" or "schematics" or "visual
guides" of the most famous and coercively historicist of art museums in
the world. My thought is this: that the schematic sequential
arrangement of the galleries of these museums reflects their underlying
ideologies. Example: in most of the American art museums of the mid-
20th century, nonwestern cultures weren't just ideologically marginalized-
- they were literally marginalized-- those galleries were set off to the
side, while viewers traveled in a neat sequential path that reflected the
prevailing positions vis-a-vis the history of European arts.
My problem is this: I am under a very tight deadline and need as many
examples of these types as possible. Any suggestions for the former and
the latter; any ideas as to where the latter are located? Finding, for
example, schematics or guides to the early 20th century English and
European museums has proven immensely difficult. Any help would be
greatly appreciated.