Capital Culture by Neil Harris
American art museums flourished in the late twentieth century, and the impresario leading much of this growth was J. Carter Brown, director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, from 1969 to 1992. Along with S. Dillon Ripley, who served as Smithsonian secretary for much of that time, Brown reinvented the museum experience in ways that had important consequences for the cultural life of Washington and its visitors as well as for American museums in general. In Capital Culture, distinguished historian Neil Harris provides a wide-ranging look at Brown's achievement and the growth of museum culture during this crucial period. Harris combines his in-depth knowledge of American history and culture with extensive archival research, interviewing dozens of key players to reveal how Brown's showmanship transformed the National Gallery. At the time of the Cold War, Washington itself was growing into a global destination, with Brown as its devoted booster. Harris describes Brown's major role in the birth of blockbuster exhibitions, such as the King Tut show of the late 1970s and the National Gallery's immensely successful Treasure Houses of Britain, which helped inspire similarly popular exhibitions around the country. He recounts Brown's role in the creation of the award-winning East Building by architect I. M. Pei and the subsequent renovation of the West Building. Harris also explores the politics of exhibition planning, describing Brown's courtship of corporate leaders, politicians, and international dignitaries. In this monumental book, Harris brings to life a dynamic era and exposes the creation of Brown's impressive but costly legacy, one that changed the face of American museums forever.
"Meticulously researched and thoughtfully written, Capital Culture places JCarter Brown in his historical context and reveals the social, political, and economic issues he contended with during his long tenure at the National Gallery. Neil Harris also brings to life the way Brown used his rivalry with Tom Hoving and later Philippe de Montebello at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to animate the National Gallery and make it the cultural center of Washington, and for a time, the nation." -Glenn Lowry, director, MoMA"
Neil Harris is the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus of History and of Art History at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The Artist in American Society; Humbug: The Art of P. T. Barnum; Cultural Excursions: Marketing Appetites and Cultural Tastes in Modern America; and The Chicagoan: A Lost Magazine of the Jazz Age.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780226067704 |
| ISBN 10 | 022606770X |
| Title | Capital Culture |
| Author | Neil Harris |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | The University of Chicago Press |
| Year published | 2013-09-30 |
| Number of pages | 616 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |