Playlist: Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach
How did modernist ideas reshape the presentation of art in museums and galleries? And how did that approach evolve in the postmodern era? This program examines intellectual and aesthetic issues associated with the display of art, using rooms in the Tate Modern as case studies. Overviewing the exhibition style Alfred Barr established during his transformation of MOMA in the 1930s, the video shows how Tate curators developed a new method utilizing theme-based museum sections. Students are guided through numerous Tate holdings—notably the juxtaposition of Monet’s Water Lilies with Richard Long’s work—as well as pieces by Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Denis Oppenheim, and others. Original Open University broadcast title: Displaying Modern Art. (32 minutes)
Modern art in the MOMA from 1929 onwards was displayed primarily in chronological order, representing each art movement. Art is displayed on white walls with flexible lighting.
By the 1970s, traditional ways of displaying modern art are questioned. Art came off the walls to become busy and noisy. Artists explore the political and ideological context of the museum itself.
The Tate Modern displays its modern art if four sections. In each section an overarching principle provides a theme for the selection and exhibition of the selections of modern art.
The Tate's thematic approach to displaying art prompts controversy when three works by Richard Long are juxtaposed with Monet's "Water Lilies." Yet, the connections among the pieces are justified.
Unlike MOMA's original concept of displaying art in chronological order, visitors to the Tate are provided with striking and often abrupt transitions between the individual display rooms.
Critics argue that Tate Modern's thematic presentation of art requires that viewers have no knowledge of art. They believe art should be more than entertainment.
Many abstract artists tried to make paintings that were not dependent on figuration. They wanted to convey emotions, aesthetic effects, or social vision.
The Joseph Beuys room in the Tate Modern creates a church-like atmosphere. Visitors do not materially understand what they see. They transition to the next room where art consists of waste and junk.