Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts
256
Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts
256Paperback
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Overview
Two centuries ago, wealthy entrepreneurs founded the American cathedrals of culture—museums, theater companies, and symphony orchestras—to mirror European art. But today’s American arts scene has widened to embrace multitudes: photography, design, comics, graffiti, jazz, and many other forms of folk, vernacular, and popular culture. What led to this dramatic expansion? In Entitled, Jennifer Lena shows how organizational transformations in the American art world—amid a shifting political, economic, technological, and social landscape—made such change possible.
By chronicling the development of American art from its earliest days to the present, Lena demonstrates that while the American arts may be more open, they are still unequal. She examines key historical moments, such as the creation of the Museum of Primitive Art and the funneling of federal and state subsidies during the New Deal to support the production and display of culture. Charting the efforts to define American genres, styles, creators, and audiences, Lena looks at the ways democratic values helped legitimate folk, vernacular, and commercial art, which was viewed as nonelite. Yet, even as art lovers have acquired an appreciation for more diverse culture, they carefully select and curate works that reflect their cosmopolitan, elite, and moral tastes.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691204796 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 12/07/2021 |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xiii
1 The Invention of American Art, 1825-1945 1
Museums and Symphony Orchestras 1
Rationalizing Governance 3
The Second Wave: Ballet, Modern Dance, Theater, and Opera 6
Early Life Exposure 18
What Is an "American Art"? 19
Heading into the Great Depression 24
2 The WPA and the Opening of the American Arts 26
The WPA's Impact 27
A Cultural Democracy 30
The Long Arm of WPA Influence: Artists, Organizations, Administrators 35
Conclusion 39
3 The Museum of Primitive Art, 1940-1982 41
Nelson Rockefeller, Art Collector 43
Primitive and Modern: Frontiers of Legitimacy in the Midcentury 47
Inventing the Field of Primitive Art 48
Influencing the Postcolonial Art World 60
Move to the Met 62
Primitive Art and Artistic Legitimation 63
Conclusion 68
4 Opportunity Structures 70
Economic, Political, and Technological Change 71
Changes to Regulations 73
Changes within Arts Nonprofits 76
Changes to Funding 80
Conclusion 84
5 Expansion: 1900-2000 86
Building a Model of Aesthetic Legitimation 87
Conclusion 111
6 Cultural Appropriation 114
Cosmopolitanism 115
Slumming 118
Monet's Kimono 123
Chinatown Plaid 126
Conclusion 129
7 Conclusion 132
Twentieth-Century American Artistic Legitimation, in Brief 137
Trajectories 140
Aesthetic Continuities across Legitimizing Fields 144
Alliances with Legitimate Fields 147
People Power 148
Appropriation from Outside 149
Never Art: Kitsch 150
Partial Legitimation: Designer Toys 153
Appendix: Methodological Appendix 157
Notes 165
Works Cited 193
Index 229
What People are Saying About This
“How is it that elite tastes have broadened, but a cultural hierarchy is still well in place? Weaving together case studies that span history and cross artistic disciplines, Lena deftly answers this question. She shows how even as elites incorporate cultural forms created by marginalized groups into their taste repertoire, social hierarchies can remain firm. This powerfully written account of taste and inequality is an essential read for cultural observers and critics.”—Patricia A. Banks, Mount Holyoke College"Lena turns a mass of historical and contemporary data into an imaginative and exciting narrative of how, starting in the nineteenth century, worlds of art materialized in the United States, who paid for them, who made the art, and how audiences for the results emerged."—Howard S. Becker, author of Art Worlds "Well-written and interesting, this book offers an excellent overview of omnivorousness and how art forms come to be newly understood as high art. A good, brisk read."—Gabriel Rossman, University of California, Los Angeles"Over the last two decades, omnivorousness has turned into one of the most discussed concepts in sociology. Entitled fills a gap in this debate and its focus on cultural providers is innovative and well-justified. This engaging book sets an agenda for future research."—Laurie Hanquinet, coeditor of The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Art and Culture“Lena brilliantly rewrites the book on cultural capital. Debates over what counts as art in America created the backbone for a unique relationship between art and democracy and changed who counts as cultured. Entitled stands Bourdieu on his head!”—Gina Neff, University of Oxford