Daniel H. Weiss

Why Museums Matter by Daniel H Weiss, part of Yale's Why X Matters series, takes a narrower perspective than the title implies but, for what it is, it is a nice read.

Like a couple other books in this series, I would prefer either a broader approach or a more accurate title. This doesn't mean this book, or the others, aren't good, just that they are not speaking to everyone and/or about all of the entities covered by the title. In this case, it is the scope of inclusion. This is a book about why encyclopedic art museums matter. With that in mind and with the expectations set up by the title downgraded, this is an enjoyable book.

With some history of museums and art museums in particular and some general insight into examples drawn from his tenure at the Met in NYC, the reader grasps some of the inherent contradictions between the idea of an encyclopedic museum and the selective nature of any enterprise that can only acquire and display a limited number of works.

While touching on the uglier side of the history of museums, the imperialism and empire adjacent aspects and the undeserved bias, these are given little space or deep consideration. A disappointment but also understandable for a work of this size targeting a general readership. It did, however, make me go back and revisit the book Under Discussion: The Encyclopedic Museum edited by Donatien Grau from Getty Publications, which uses interviews with administrators, artists, and others to dig deeper into the history and future of such museums.

I would recommend this to readers who want an accessible overview of (art) museums that gives a little history, touches on a little of the controversies, and gives a glimpse behind the scenes of a major museum. If you're interested in more depth in any one of these areas, there are plenty of other options, but most readers will likely be content with this summary.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)