This beautiful and visually immersive book charts the fascinating story of the institution of the Museum, from its origins to the present.
Visited by millions
around the world every year, museums are one of mankind’s most essential creations. They tell stories
, shape cultural identities
and hold
valuable insight about the past and about the future.
This
captivating works
charts a path from the very first collection through to the latest developments in cultural curation, interweaving
Using examples of the
greatest cultural institutions
to shape the narrative, historian and academic Owen Hopkins draws on his deep knowledge of the field to
outline the history of the museum movement.
Tracking the evolution from princely collections in Europe and the Enlightenment’s classically inspired temples of curiosities, via the public museums of the late nineteenth century, on to today’s global era of
iconic buildings designed by the world’s leading architects,
this book is a
vital work for anyone seeking to understand the development of the museum into what it is today.
Over the course of five chapters
filled with stunning imagery
that highlights the beauty of these venerated buildings,
the origins of key institutions are revealed
, including:
Louvre
Metropolitan Museum of Art
British Museum
Tate Modern
The Hermitage
Guggenheim
Smithsonian Institute
Acropolis Museum
Also outlined are the motivations of the
architects, curators and patrons
who have shaped how we experience the modern museum, a cast that includes names such as
King George II
,
Napoleon
Henry Clay Frick
Peggy Guggenheim
Andrew Carnegie
Alfred Barr
Frank Lloyd Wright
Le Corbusier
Frank Gehry
Richard Rogers
Nicholas Serota
and
Zaha Hadid
.
By examining how these venues became
intrinsic to our shared cultural experience
, analysing the changing roles they play in society and questioning what the future holds in a digital age,
this book is for anyone who has stood in awe at the spectacle of a museum