Page 70 - Studio International - June 1966

The New Museum Review article by Theo Crosby

The publication of The New Museum* by Michael sure on all our institutions. In a museum the caricature, or at best an indication of the composi-
Brawne is something of an event in itself. It also business of moving masses of people, once a rarity, tion, the modern print, or even the colour repro-
brings up, in a clear and precise way, the role of is now a norm. For the display man, mass is an duction in a Sunday magazine, is very close to the
the museum in contemporary society. entirely new problem: should one try for an imme- original. For the eighteenth-century connoisseur
First, the book itself. Printed in Germany, and set diate, obvious, and probably superficial arrange- the visit to the original was an experience, literally
in a very teutonic manner, it is a cool (visually ment, just to ensure a rapid turnover, knowing that a new experience. For us, the first sight of the
and intellectually) analysis of the problems and of something complex might hold up the whole circu- Rokeby Venus is always a mere confirmation, and it
the many new and renovated museums in Europe lation ? Carlo Scarpa, the man who has been takes a great deal of mental energy to actually look
and America. The introduction takes one neatly responsible for the best new museum work in at the picture. Thus Scarpa's elegant build-ups,
and simply over the ground: the function of the Italy (or the world), and who is quite astonishingly sequences of views which create the atmosphere of
museum as the place where a real object can be sensitive to the way in which objects should be disarmed expectancy which is released by the
seen and the ways in which the object can be pre- shown, has really invented a new game. It is in- ultimate object. The flow of spaces, for example in
sented; the new role of a collection in a world full of finitely subtle and intelligent. His reorganizations the MUSEO CORRER, are very like the build-up of
reproductions and competitive visual stimulation; of the MUSEO CORRER and the ACCADEMIA in holiness in Egyptian or Hindu temples, and there
the nature of the museum's function in relation Venice are so perfect and exquisite that they meet is a sense in which a museum is, or at least works
to the city. There follows an analysis and presen- and complement the works of art at their own as, a temple. In a secular world such experience is
tation with plans of a great number of examples, level. The game is to follow his route, observing not lightly gained, and is in itself of social value.
and the last section consists of technical discussion each detail of framing, support, and lighting, and In the MUSEO CORRER the Bellinis are small in scale,
about lighting, space for conservation, methods of of the objects in relation to each other. It can be and, as the ultimate mysteries, are a tremendous
storage and such things. In all, a good, clean, help- played like chess—you think of a better move if experience. But we should be alone; the experience
ful book with hardly a spiteful sentence. Which is you can; or like good cooking— you inhale the is an individual revelation.
perhaps surprising as Michael Brawne is one of the perfect combination of ingredients. No one before There are paintings, of course, capable of domi-
most intelligent and explicit of young architects, Scarpa had thought of a museum in quite this nating a crowd: Rembrandt's Night Watch even
and there is a great deal of dim dreariness in the way, as a supreme private collection. It has the seen over the heads of a group of tourists in that
museum business right to hand. disadvantage that, like good cooking, it doesn't great room in the RIJKSMUSEUM is more than the
Many of the newer museums, such as LOUISIANA really work with a mass audience. The atmosphere examination of a great painting; it is an involve-
in Copenhagen, have been built in parks, or in is broken with too many people, the tension be- ment in a social act. But such paintings are com-
`civic areas'. Brawne argues convincingly for a tween object and observer is lost. paratively rare.
central and unspecialized location, and also for In a world with a great many more people, but The museum is a great many things: an instru-
the dissolution of the barriers between activities. with relatively the same number of historically ment of education, and it is this role that most
Shopping should merge unselfconciously into pic- important objects, their display becomes con- modern museums seek to fill. A museum should be
ture viewing, so that painting `may become more stantly more difficult. This is partly because of the able to originate an infinite number of temporary
real, the street less squalid'. This can more easily numbers of visitors and partly due to their con- or travelling exhibitions which comment on the
be done with a commercial gallery than with a full stantly increasing value and the security risks that past, present, and future, using original material or
scale museum, with its problems of security and its are involved. reproductions. An institution capable of this func-
`civic' function. At least in the latter role the Malraux's musée immaginaire has, of course, not tion is particularly needed in London, and it is in-
museum provides an element of identity, a marker had the effect of keeping people away from tended that the INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS
in the city, and as such should be both unique and museums. On the contrary the diffusion of prints will be able to do this from its new home. The
obvious. How pleasant as a tourist to find the place, and reproductions of works of art has encouraged museum must, in at least some of its functions,
easily and obviously in the city centre, rather than people to visit the originals. Instead of the eight- become involved in the process of intellectual
making an expedition to a suburb, even if there is eenth-century engraved copy, often the merest debate, exploring and initiating as well as con-
a coffee bar and a view at the end of the journey.
The separation of the museum in a park, or a civic
area, is a very tiresome planning gambit. The
authorities find it convenient to have similar func-
tions tidily grouped together, to the great loss of
the rest of the city. In London this tendency shows
itself in the South Bank white elephant; theatre,
concert hall, opera house, art gallery all neatly
isolated away from the communications centre.
`Culture' becomes something extraordinary that
requires a special journey to undergo. Almost every
city is being quietly emasculated in this way.
GOTHENBURG has had its little group on the out-
skirts since the thirties; LINCOLN CENTRE in New
York is perhaps the newest and worst example.
Let us therefore thank our ancestors for keeping
the BRITISH MUSEUM a little distance from the
NATIONAL GALLERY and both apart from Covent
Garden. Each is the key to a distinctive neighbour-
hood, yet within walking distance. Each element
has a little elbow room, yet doesn't require vast
open space and is neatly assimilated into the
townscape.
What is the museum's new role in a society more
affluent, populous, and mobile than ever before?
The increase in leisure brings an increasing pres-

*The New Museum: Architecture and Display
by Michael Brawne
The Architectural Press, London. 208 pages, text in
English and German, illustrated with monochrome
illustrations and plans throughout, £5 5s.