Interpreting Art in Museums and Galleries In this pioneering book, Christopher Whitehead provides an overview and critique of art interpretation practices in museums and galleries Covering the philosophy and sociology of art, traditions in art history and art display, the psychology of the aesthetic experience and ideas about learning and communication, Whitehead advances major theoretical frameworks for understanding interpretation from curators’ and visitors’ perspectives Although not a manual, the book is deeply practical It presents extensively researched European and North American case studies involving interviews with professionals engaged in significant cutting-edge interpretation projects Finally, it sets out the ethical and political responsibilities of institutions and professionals engaged in art interpretation Exploring the theoretical and practical dimensions of art interpretation in accessible language, this book covers: • • • • • • the construction of art by museums and galleries, in the form of collections, displays, exhibition and discourse; the historical and political dimensions of art interpretation; the functioning of narrative, categories and chronologies in art displays; practices, discourses and problems surrounding the interpretation of historical and contemporary art; visitor experiences and questions of authorship and accessibility; the role of exhibition texts, new interpretive technologies and live interpretation in art museum and gallery contexts Thoroughly researched with immediately practical applications, Interpreting Art in Museums and Galleries will inform the practices of art curators and those studying the subject Christopher Whitehead teaches Museum, Gallery and Heritage Studies and runs the Art Museum and Gallery Studies postgraduate programme at the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, Newcastle University, UK He has substantial experience of developing interpretive resources in museums and galleries and is the author of numerous books and articles in the field of museum studies Interpreting Art in Museums and Galleries Christopher Whitehead First published 2012 by Routledge Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2012 Christopher Whitehead The right of Christopher Whitehead to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-415-41920-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-41922-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-14561-6 (ebk) Typeset in Garamond by HWA Text and Data Management, London Contents List of figures Preface vi x part i Introductory mappings 1 What is art interpretation? Why interpret art? The cultural cartography of the museum 23 Matters of interpretation: materiality, authority, chronology 36 Part II Interpretive practice today 51 Interpretive frames: historical figurative art 53 Interpretive frames: modern, contemporary and non-figurative art 80 Case studies: institutional approaches to historical art 110 Case studies: institutional approaches to contemporary art 147 Interpretive futures 174 Notes References Index 180 183 189 figures 0.1  Annunciation, from the True Cross Cycle (fresco), Piero della Francesca, 1464 viii 0.2  Autumn Rhythm, Jackson Pollock, 1950 ix 0.3  I’ve Got It All, Tracey Emin, 2000 xi 0.4  Model of the Temporal Visit xiii 1.1  Study for Portrait on Folding Bed, Francis Bacon, 1963 1.2  Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, c.1875 1.3  Fleeting Luck, Tonico Lemos Auad, 2005 15 1.4  Beardley’s criteria for the aesthetic experience 1.5  Csikszentmihalyi’s flow experience 16 2.1 ‘Rondanini’ Pietà, Michelangelo, Museum of Ancient Art, Milan 27 2.2  The Picture Gallery, Paxton House 31 33 2.3  The Development of Abstract Art, Alfred H Barr, 1936 4.1  Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola, Peter Paul Rubens, c 1617/18 56 4.2  Interrogation of the audiotrack for Peter Paul Rubens’ Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola 59 4.3  Susannah and the Elders, Tintoretto, 1560–62 61 4.4  The Cattle Ferry, Esias van de Velde, 1622 64 4.5  The Stone Bridge, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, c 1638 65 4.6  The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, 1662 66 4.7  Civic Guardsmen from the Company of Captain Jacob Pieterszn Hooghkamer and Lieutenant Pieter Jacobszn van Rijn, Jacob Lyon, 1628 69 List of figures  vii 4.8  Three Wardens of the Surgeons Guild, Cornelius Troost, 1731 4.9  The governors and governesses of the Oude Mannen en Vrouwen Gasthuis, Claes Moyaert, 1640 4.10  Painting by Andries Beeckman and tapestry by Sitisiwan 5.1  Ishi’s Light, Anish Kapoor, 2003 5.2  Chronology of modern and contemporary art, Sara Fanelli, Tate Modern 5.3  Interior in the Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst (SMAK), Ghent 5.4  Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna 5.5  Nursery Piece, Job Koelewijn, 2010 5.6  Repoussé knife sheath, 10th–14th century, Korea 5.7  Materials and processes display, Metalwork Collection, Museums Sheffield: Millennium 6.1  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 6.2  Art Gallery of Ontario audience segments data 6.3  ‘History and Her Story’ Gallery 6.4  ‘Arcadian Land: Seized or Lost?’ Gallery 6.5  ‘Art and Power’ Gallery 6.6  John O’Brien’s 1854 oil painting The Ocean Pride Leaving Halifax Harbour and Joe Talirunili’s Migration (around 1974) 6.7  ‘Tea Time’ period display, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 6.8  Touchscreen interface at MFA showing chronological trends of collecting Native American art 6.9  Touchscreen at MFA showing contrasting views on the conservation of samplers and visitor voting 6.10  ‘What belongs in the MFA?’ display in one of the ‘Behind the Scenes’ galleries 6.11  ‘Comparing Chairs’ text panel, MFA 6.12  ‘Comparing Copley portraits’ touchscreen, MFA 7.1  ‘Hints to Workmen’ at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland 7.2  BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art 7.3  Image of BALTIC Crew and visitors on Level 7.4  ‘Dirk Bell: Made in Germany’ 7.5  Parsifal I, II and III, 2973, Anselm Kiefer, 2010 7.6  Blackout, Dan Holdsworth 71 72 73 83 85 92 93 98 103 108 113 114 119 120 123 124 134 138 139 140 141 141 149 161 164 165 168 168 Annunciation, from the True Cross Cycle (fresco), San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy, completed 1464 by Piero della Francesca,(c.1415–92) Image courtesy of Bridgeman Art Library Figure 0.1  Figure 0.2  Autumn Rhythm, Jackson Pollock, 1950 Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Scala Archives ©Photo SCALA, Florence Preface Looking at art is a true excursion into alien sensibilities … (Kesner 2006: 10) Every year I play a game – the ‘alien game’ – with my postgraduate art curatorship students to evaluate the notion that art ‘speaks for itself ’ Try it out Take any work of art and put yourself in the position of someone faced with an entirely alien representation Imagine that you can strip away almost all but the most basic of your own human cultural baggage Look at Piero della Francesca’s Annunciation (Figure 0.1) (please forget for a moment, in the spirit of the game, that it is part of a fresco cycle in a church and is hard to see in isolation except in reproductions) What, in terms of representation alone, does it suggest? That people can be cut off at the waist and can float on clouds? Or, perhaps, as Michael Baxandall (1972: 36) once pointed out, that the column might be an object of devotion? Repeat with a Jackson Pollock painting from the ‘Autumn Rhythm’ sequence (Figure 0.2), where from a basic cultural perspective we need to know about western understandings of the seasons and the concept of rhythm Repeat again with the 2000 ink-jet photograph by Tracey Emin, I’ve Got It All (Figure 0.3) What is going on here? Is the female grasping money (assuming we understand it as such) to herself or is it to be supposed that she is issuing it? There are all sorts of cultural data that we need to know in order to interpret this to mean… you decide what! (Are the image’s ambiguity and the multiplicity of possible interpretations part of the meaning and intent of the work?) What now of the place of these images within human society? What they do? What and who are they for? Why they exist? 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The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 508–512 Index Note: Page numbers in Roman numerals are for the Preface; Page numbers in italics are for illustrations abstraction 5, 32–4, 143–4, see also contemporary art; historical figurative art; realism Advertisement for the Church of England Building Society (text label) 153–154 aesthetic experience (aesthetic encounter) 14–17, 15, 21, 32–35, 177–178 aesthetics, of non-art objects 12–13 AGO see Art Gallery of Ontario Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds 91 alterity, and identification 20–21 ‘Altermodern’ exhibition (Tate Britain) 96–97 American art see Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Art Gallery of Onario, Toronto Amsterdam museums, Netherlandish painting in 63–75 Amsterdams Historisch Museum 63, 69–73 Annunciation, from the True Cross Cycle (fresco) (Piero della Francesca) vii, ix, 45 aperture 38–41 ‘Arcadian Land: Seized or Lost?’ Gallery, AGO 120–122, 120 art: cultural status of xviii; ‘institutional’ theories and social production of 9–13; perception of value 3–4; subjectivity and definitions of 4–9, see also artwork(s) ‘Art of the Americas’ wing, MFA 127–145; ‘Behind the Scenes’ galleries 127, 137–142, 140 Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) 110–126; audience segments data 114, 114; Canadian hub 122–126; European hub 115–122; mission statement 111; Thomson collection 110, 111–112 art museums: cultural cartography of 23–35; and fruition 14, 21–22; nomenclature of xv; and social production of art 11–13, see also curators; labelling; visitors; names of individual museums, e.g Rijksmuseum ‘Art and Power’ Gallery, AGO 123–125, 123 artist(s): and art practice 97–98; collaboration in exhibition process 150–151; statements 48; voice of 166, 169 Artists Space Gallery, New York 94 artwork(s): and audience focus 177–178; hierarchies of values 29–30; as historical objects 36–37; and principles of interpretation 174; relevance of 125–126; and texts as exhibition objects 148–149, 158; and viewer 21, 32–35, see also art ‘At Home in the New Nation’ (text panel) MFA 135 Attia, Kader, Oil and Sugar #2 (video) 101 Auad, Tonico Lemos, Fleeting Luck (sculpture) 7–8, audience focus 176–178, see also visitors Audience Segments Data, AGO 114, 114 audioguides: at MFA 132; at Tate Modern 39, 83–84, 89–90; BALTIC podcasts 164; for Rembrandt’s The Syndics 67–68; for Rubens’ Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola 57–60, 59; for Tintoretto’s Susannah and the Elders 60–62, see also dialogue; display; guidebooks; labelling; live interpretation; touchscreen interface 190 References ‘authored subjectivities’ 95–97 authority, institutional, and principles of interpretation 174 authorship 137, 149, 157–158, 175 Autumn Rhythm (Pollock) iv, ix Bacon, Francis, Study for Portrait on Folding Bed (painting) 4, 4, 82–84 Bakewell, J 13 BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead 47–48, 160–173, 161; Crew 163–164, 164, 169–172; interpretation strategy 163–165; visitor data and statistics 161–163; workshop and definitions of art 6–8 BALTIC Interpretation Policy 162 Barr, Alfred H 41; The Development of Abstract Art diagram 32, 33, 84 Battacharya, Robin, Raising the Jolly Roger (photograph) (text label) 155 Baxandall, Michael 6, 18, 37, 43, 44–45, 46, 103, 158–159 Beardley, Monroe, criteria for the aesthetic experience 14–15, 15 Beeckman, Andries, painting 73–74, 73 ‘Behind the Scenes’ galleries, MFA 127, 137– 142, 140; ‘Caring for Works of Art’ gallery 138, 138; ‘Collecting’ gallery 137–138; ‘Regional Accents’ gallery 141–142 Bell, Dirk: Made in Germany’ exhibition (BALTIC) 165–167, 165 Belting, Hans 23, 84–86 Bennett, T et al xvi Bishop, Claire 17 Bitgood, S 177 Blackout exhibition (Holdsworth) 167–169, 168 boundaries xii 29–30 boundary objects 13, 25 Bourdieu, Pierre 10–11, 13, 55, 95 Bourdieu, Pierre and Darbel, A 12, 37 Bourriaud, Nicolas 17, 96, 97 Bulman, Linda 170–171 Canadian hub, AGO 122–126 Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University 38 Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus (painting) 75–77 ‘Caring for Works of Art’ gallery, MFA 138, 138 Carroll, N Carter, M and Geczy, A 21, 30, 43 cartographical readings see cultural cartography; interpretation Castello Sforzesco, ‘Rondanini’ Pietà (sculpture) (Michelangelo) 26–28, 27, 29, 48 categories 24–25, 41–42, 80, 175 Cattaro, Giacomo da, Virgin at Prayer (painting) 78 The Cattle Ferry (painting) (Velde) 64–65, 64 Chambers, W and R.C., ‘Hints to Workmen’ (educational pamphlet) 150, 152 Christ before Pilate (painting) (text label) (Giordano) 117 Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet (painting) (Tintoretto) 116 chronology 81–82, 84–85, 129 Chronology of modern and contemporary art (Fanelli) 84, 85 Civic Guardsmen from the Company of Captain Jacob Pieterszn Hooghkamer and Lieutenant Pieter Jacobszn van Rijn (painting) (Lyon) 69–71, 69 ‘Classification’ gallery, MFA 138–139 classificatory structures 24–25, 41–42, 80, 175 classifying viewers 19 ‘Collecting’ gallery, MFA 137–138 colonialism, framing of 74, 123–125 The Commune: Paris (video) (Watkins) 150, 151 community participation 89–90 ‘Comparing Chairs’ (text panel) MFA 141 ‘Comparing Copley portraits’(touchscreen) MFA 140–141, 141 complex interpretation programmes 56–60, 62–63, 106, 144–145 conceptual affinities 81 conceptual art 167–169 connective experience 20–21 Connerly, Mary 39 conservation, and display 130 Conservative Party, ‘Sort-It’ campaign 152–153 Constance Spry exhibition (Design Museum) 25, 30 construal, and construction 13 ‘Constructing Canada’ Gallery, AGO 122 construction, and construal 13 constructive viewers 19, 143 contemporary art 41–46, 47–48, 80–109, 147–173; at AGO 115; at BALTIC 160–173; at MFA 143–144; at NGCA 147–160; the Tate Modern 80–91 context: and role of art museum 13; social 9–11, 17–18, see also frames/framing; types of frames, e.g evolutionary frames creativity 6, 17, 111 Crimp, Douglas, On the Museum’s Ruins 84 Crooke, Elizabeth 129 Csikszentmihalyi, M., flow experience 14–16, 16, 45, 55, 153 References  191 Csikszentmihalyi, M and Robinson, R.E 14–17, 21 cultural cartography 23–35; boundaries 29–30; interpretive narratives 30–35; MFA’s ‘Art of the Americas’ wing 129–130, 146 cultural exclusion/inclusion xvii–xviii, 29–30, 91, 109, 129, 175 cultural understandings xvii–xviii, 10–11; and art display 86–87; and complex interpretation programmes 60, 68–75, 106; and contemporary art 43–46, 81, 162–163, 169, 170–171; and decorative art 102–109; identified by VTS 19–20; of visitors 15, 142–143, 159–160, 169–172, see also visitors Cuno, J xvii curatorial register xiv–xv curators/curatorial practice 14, 95–96, 130–131, 149 Danto, Arthur 9–10 Davies, S 10 ‘Days of Record’ events (V&A) 30 decorative art 102–109, 132–135; and fine art 29–30, 102, 130 definitions of art, subjective 4–9 Derges, Susan 39 Design Museum, London, Constance Spry exhibition 25, 30 The Development of Abstract Art diagram (Barr) 32, 33, 84 dialogue 90–91, 170–171, 172, see also audioguides; display; guidebooks; labelling; live interpretation; touchscreen interface Dickie, George 10, 11 differentiation 24–26 digital interface, V&A Photography Gallery 39 digital technologies xiii, 177–178, see also audioguides ‘Dirk Bell: Made in Germany’ exhibition (BALTIC) 165–167, 165 disciplinary positioning 25–26 ‘discrepant boundary objects’ 13, 25 display: aims of 80–81; and conservation 130; registers of interpretation xiii–xv; themed environments 81–91, 95 diversity 111 documents, in ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 148–150, 157–160 Doering, Zahava 20 domestic display model 31 Dorment, R 97 Du Gay, P et al 24 Duchamp, Marcel Duclos, Rebecca 24 Duncan, C and Wallach, A 37, 126 Eco, Umberto 90 education, of museum staff 170–171 Elkins, James 12, 82, 128 Emin, Tracey, I’ve Got It All ix, x, 45 Entman, Robert M 54 environmental register xiii–xiv environments: architectural 91–102; themed 81–91, 95 ‘Establishing Shot’ exhibition 94–95 ‘Eternal Life’ Gallery, AGO 116–118 ethics 176 Euro-American cultures 129–130 European hub, AGO 115–122 evaluation 26–29 Eve and Adam (paintings) (Newman) 82–83 everyday objects, aestheticisation of 12–13 exclusion/inclusion xvii–xviii, 29–30, 91, 109, 129, 175 exhibitions: as ‘authored subjectivities’ 95–97; visitor reception of 163, see also names of individual exhibitions, e.g ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition experience, viewer’s see aesthetic experience; connective experience; flow experience Fairclough, Norman xvi, 13, 30 Falk, John 17–18, 54, 113, 114 Falk, John and Dierking, L.D xiii Fanelli, Sara, Chronology of modern and contemporary art 84, 85 Farquharsen, Alex 95 figurative art see historical figurative art fine art, and decorative art 29–30, 102, 130 First Nations artists 122 Fleeting Luck (sculpture) (Auad) 7–8, flow experience 14–16, 16, 45, 55, 153 Fohrman, D 38 forum 111 Foucault, Michel 25 Fox, I 13 frames/framing 53–55, 75–79; architectural framing 91–102; biographical framing 107; chronological-connective framing 86; critical-historical framing 63–74, 124–125; evolutionary frames 55, 75– 79, 106; frame multiplication 90–91, 107–108; functional frames 105–106; geo-contextual framings 73–74, 107–109, 120–125, 169; intentionalexplanatory frame 97–99; participative framing 89–91, 108; political framing 192 References 157–160; socio-objective framing 132–137; see also socio-historical framing Freake-Gibbs painter: Margaret Gibbs (text label) 136–137; Robert Gibbs at 4½ Years (text label) 136 Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC 104–107 Friends of Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle 162–163 fruition: and the aesthetic experience 14–17; identification and alterity 20–21; and importance of the art museum 21–22; and the learning process 16–17, 18–20; and social interaction 17–18 Fuss, Adam, Invocation (dye destruction print) 39 Gale, Matthew 82 Gateshead 160–161, see also BALTIC Generic Learning Outcomes 20 Giordano, Luca, Christ before Pilate (painting) (text label) 117 Gitlin, T 54 Goffman, Erving 53 The governors and governesses of the Oude Mannen en Vrouwen Gasthuis (painting) (Moyaert) 72–73, 72 group belonging, and personal identity 17–18 group participation 89–90 Group of Seven 122 groupings, and narration 26 Guernica (Picasso) 28 guidebooks 32, 128, see also audioguides; dialogue; display; labelling; live interpretation; touchscreen interface Guston, Philip, The Return (painting) 86 Harley, Brian 47 Hetherington, K 29 hierarchies of values 29–30 ‘Hints to Workmen’ (educational pamphlet) (Chambers) 150, 152 ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition (NGCA) 148–160, 149 Hirschorn Museum, Washington DC 87 historical figurative art 53–79; and contemporary art 43–44; evolutionary frames 55, 75–79; institutional approaches to 110–146 (AGO 110–26; MFA 126–46); interpretation of 4–5, 6, 41–46, 47; narrative and the pictorial frame (Tintoretto’s Susannah and the Elders) 60–63, 61, 98–99; Netherlandish painting in Amsterdam 63–75; stories for a single painting (Rubens’ Miracles of St Ignatius Loyola) 56–60, 56 historical objects: artworks as 4–5, 36–37; texts as 148–150, 151, see also chronology; socio-historical framing; socio-objective framing historicist theories of art 10 histories 175–176 history of art 85–86 ‘History and Her Story’ Gallery, AGO 118–130, 119 Holdsworth, Dan, Blackout exhibition 167–169, 168 Hooper- Greenhill, Eilean xv, 16, 20, 24, 25 Housen, Abigail 19, 142 Housen, Abigail and Yenawine, P 143 Hurd, Jacob, silver cup (text label) 133 identification, and alterity 20–21 identity-related museum motivations 17–18 in-gallery interpretation xii–xiii inclusion/exclusion xvii–xviii, 29–30, 91, 109, 129, 175 information, and visitor interaction: at AGO 113–115; at Metalwork Collection, Museums Sheffield: Millennium 108; at MFA, Boston 131, 142–143, 145; at NGCA 151, 153, 156–157, 159–160; at Tate Modern 89–91; BALTIC 162–164, 169–172, see also audioguides; cultural understandings; dialogue; guidebooks; information; labelling; live interpretation; received knowledge; touchscreen interface Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston 101 ‘institutional’ theories, and social production of art 9–13 interaction, visitor: at BALTIC 162–164, 169–172; group and community participation 89–91, 108; ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition (NGCA) 145, 151, 153, 156–157, 159–160; and interpretation 38–39, 46, 80–81, see also audioguides; dialogue; information; labelling; touchscreen interface interpretation: aperture 38–41; art as product and process 36–37, 104, 105, 106; complex interpretation programmes 56–58, 62–63, 106, 144–145, 151; of historical art 4–5, 6, 41–46, 47; in-gallery interpretation xii–xiii; live interpretation xii, 163–164, 169–172; meanings of xv, xvi, 81; metacognitive approach 140–142, 145–146; non-art interpretations 169, 170–171; practice and theory of 171–173; principles of 174–175; Tate Modern guidelines for 89; of ‘things’ as art 3–13; visitors as map users 46–49 References  193 interpretive narratives 30–35 interpretive viewers 19–20 Invocation (dye destruction print) (Fuss) 39 Isaac Blessing Jacob (painting) (text label) (Langetti) 117 Iser, W 25, 44 Ishi’s Light (sculpture) (Kapoor) 82, 83, 84 Ismail, Gailan Abdullah, Traffic (video) (text label) 156 Istanbul Archaeology Museum 104 Italian Baroque art, AGO 116–118 I’ve Got It All (Emin) ix, x 45 Jackson, A.Y., Elevator, moonlight (text label) 121 Jackson, Peter 171 Jones, Mark 13 Jorn, Asger, Letter to My Son (painting) 39 Kapoor, Anish, Ishi’s Light (sculpture) 82, 83, 84 Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow 38 Kesner, Ladislav 14, 177–178 Kiefer, Anselm, Parsifal I, II and III, 2973 (paintings) 165, 167 knowledge see cultural understandings; guidebooks; information; labelling; live interpretation; received knowledge Koelewijn, Job, Nursery Piece 98–99, 98 Koke, Judy 112–114, 124, 125–126 Korean decorative art 103–104, 103 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, audiotrack for Rubens Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola 56 labelling 38, 47–48; and complex interpretation programmes 56–57, 106; and evolutionary framing 75–79, 106; language and voice of 137, 153, 166, 169; narrative and the pictorial frame 60–61; and representational framing 64–67, 69–70, 71–72; themed display at Tate Modern 83, 87–88; ‘tombstone’ labels 92, 116–126, see also audioguides; display; guidebooks; live interpretation; texts/text labels; touchscreen interface Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle 162–163 Langetti, Giovanni Battista, Isaac Blessing Jacob (painting) (text label) 117 language and voice, and labelling 137, 153, 166, 169 Learning and Engagement team, BALTIC 164, 170 learning process 16–17, 18–20 Leinhardt, G and Knutson, K 90 Letter to My Son (painting) (Jorn) 39 Lewis, B 97 Lights Go On (video) (Rooney) 48 literacy levels, visitors’ 159–160 live interpretation xii, 163–164, 169–172 locality 109, 129 Louvre, Paris 31–32 Lowndes, Vanessa 39 Lynn, Hazel 170 Lyon, Jacob, Civic Guardsmen from the Company of Captain Jacob Pieterszn Hooghkamer and Lieutenant Pieter Jacobszn van Rijn (painting) 69–71, 69 Madonna and Child (carved wood) (Maestro aostano (?)) 78 ‘Making Choices’ (text label) 139–140 Malraux, Andre map users, visitors as 46–49, 146 mapping see cultural cartography Maquet, J Martin, Barbara T 127, 128, 129, 130, 142–143, 145 Maslow, A.H., Hierarchy of Needs 113, 113, 114 ‘Material Mutters’ exhibition (Power Plant, Toronto) 99–100 materials and processes display, Metalwork Collection, Museums Sheffield: Millennium Galleries 108 Matisse, Henri, The Snail (cutout) 89–90 McClellan, A xvii, 12, 32 McEvilley, T 91 McManus, Paulette 38, 178 Mérode cup 102–103 Merrill, L Meszaros, Cheryl 39, 40 metacognitive approach 140–142 Metalwork Collection, Museums Sheffield: Millennium Galleries 108 MFA see Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Michelangelo, ‘Rondanini’ Pietà (sculpture) 26–28, 27, 29, 48 Migration (painting) (Talirunili) 123, 124 Millennium Galleries, Museums Sheffield, Metalwork Collection 107–108, 108 Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola (painting) (Rubens) 56–60, 56; audiotrack for 57–60, 59 mission statements 111, 126, 148 mobilisations of objects 25 Model of the Temporal Visit xii modern art see abstraction; contemporary art; realism MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), New York 30, 41–42, 46–47 194 References Monsiau, Nicolas-André, Zeuxis Choosing His Models (text label) 119–120 Morandi, Giorgio 87–88 Mouffe, Chantal 90 Moyaert, Claes, The governors and governesses of the Oude Mannen en Vrouwen Gasthuis (painting) 72–73, 72 multiplicity 39, 90–91, 107–108, 175 museum see art museums; names of individual museums, e.g Rijksmuseum Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) 126– 146; ‘Art of the Americas’ wing 127–145 (‘Behind the Scenes’ galleries 127, 137–142, 140); mission statement 126 Museum of Modern Art, New York (MOMA) 30, 41–42, 46–47 Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna 92–93, 93 museums see art museums; names of individual museums, e.g Rijksmuseum narration/narrative(s): and cultural cartography 26; interpretive narratives 30–35; and the pictorial frame in Tintoretto’s Susannah and the Elders 60–63, 61, 98–99; stories for a single painting (Rubens’ Miracles of St Ignatius Loyola) 56–60, 56 National Gallery, London 31, 32 Native American cultures 129 nature–nurture context, and aesthetic experience 16 Netherlandish painting 63–75 neutrality, myth of 34 ‘New Nation’ (text panel) MFA 135 Newhouse, Victoria 26 Newman, A and Whitehead, C 163 Newman, Barnett, Eve and Adam (paintings) 82–83 Newton, Charles Thomas 30 NGCA see Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art Nocturne in Black and Gold (painting) (Whistler) 4–5, non-art, aestheticisation of 12–13 non-art interpretations 169, 170–171 non-figurative art 102–109 Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland (NGCA) 147–160; ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 148–160, 149; mission statement 148 Norwood, George 113 Nudge (book) (Sunstein and Thaler) 149, 150 Nursery Piece (Koelewijn) 98–99, 98 ‘objects in focus’ 107, 133, see also historical objects; non-art O’Brian, J and White, P 122 O’Brien, John, The Ocean Pride Leaving Halifax Harbour (painting) 123–124, 124 Obrist, Hans Ulrich 96 The Ocean Pride Leaving Halifax Harbour (painting) (O’Brien) 123–124, 124 O’Doherty, B 26, 34–35, 47 Oil and Sugar #2 (video) (Attia) 101 ‘One-to-One’ (multi-directional dialogue) 91 O’Neill, P 91, 95, 155 Ono, Yoko 164–165 Ontario see Art Gallery of Ontario ‘open concept’ of art Parsifal I, II and III, 2973 (paintings) (Kiefer) 165, 167 Paxton House, Picture Gallery 31 perception 3–4 personal identity, and group belonging 17–18 Petersen, Vinca, Raves and Riots series (photographs) (text label) 154–155 Phillips, Adam 83 photography: Holdsworth’s Blackout exhibition 167–169, 168; images in ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 154–155 Photography Gallery, V&A, digital interface 39 Picasso, Pablo, Guernica 28 Picture Gallery, Paxton House 31 Piero della Francesca, Annunciation, from the True Cross Cycle (fresco) vii, ix, 45 Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan 75–77 Pinks (Redpath) 38 place see environments; geo-contextual framings podcasts 164 Pollock, Jackson: Autumn Rhythm (painting) iv, ix; Troubled Queen (painting) (text label) 143–144 power dynamics, framing of 123–125 Power Plant, Toronto, ‘Material Mutters’ exhibition 99–100 Preti, Mattia, St Peter Pays the Tribute (painting) 77 principles of interpretation 174–175 Pringle, Emily 171–172 process-based approach 37 product-based approach 36–37, 104, 105, 106 Question exhibition (Cantor Arts Center) 38–39 Raising the Jolly Roger (photograph) (text label) (Battacharya) 155 Rattemeyer, Christian 94 References  195 Raves and Riots series (photographs) (text label) (Petersen) 154–155 re-creative viewers 20 reader-response theory 39 realism 4–5, see also abstraction; contemporary art; historical figurative arts received knowledge, and interpretation 40, 43–44, 103–104, 142–143 Redpath Anne, Pinks 38 ‘Regional Accents’ gallery, MFA 141–142 Reith, C 90 relevance 111, 125–126 Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: The Stone Bridge (painting) 56, 65–66; The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild (painting) 66–69, 66 Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam 63, 73 Renaissance art repoussé knife sheath (10th–14th century, Korea) 103–104, 103 representational art see historical figurative art responsiveness 111 The Return (painting) (Guston) 86 Revere, Paul Jr., Sons of Liberty Bowl (silverwork) (text label) 132–133 Rice, Danielle and Yenawine, Philip 8–9 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 63–69 Robinson, Alistair 148, 150–151, 153, 157–158 Romanticism 8–9 ‘Rondanini’ Pietà (sculpture) (Michelangelo) 26–28, 27, 29, 48 Rooney, Paul, Lights Go On (video) 48 Royal Ontario Museum 103 Rubens, Peter Paul, Miracles of St Ignatius of Loyola (painting) 56–60, 56; audiotrack for 57–60, 59 Rugoff, Ralph 93–94 St Peter Pays the Tribute (painting) (Preti) 77 Schaffner, Ingrid 15 science museums 142 Serota, Nicolas 75, 80–81 Shiner, Larry silences 47 Simon, N xii Sitisiwan, tapestry 73–74, 73 slip ware, Istanbul Archaeology Museum 104 SMAK (Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst), Ghent, interior 92, 92 Smith, Terry 41, 42, 86 The Snail (cutout) (Matisse) 89–90 Snow, D.A et al 53 social interaction 17–18, see also interaction, visitor social production of art 9–13 socio-historical framing 107; of contemporary art 148–160, 169; of gendered themes 118–120; of historical figurative art 60, 63–75; of landscape paintings 120–122; of non-figurative art 87, 88–89, see also chronology; historical objects Solima, Ludovico 17 ‘Sort-It’ campaign (Conservative Party) 152–153 South Kensington Museum, London 32, 102 spectator(s) see viewers; visitors; VTS St Peter Pays the Tribute (painting) (Preti) 77 staff: curators/curatorial practice 95–96, 130–131, 149; structures 179; training 170–171 Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst (SMAK), Ghent, interior 92, 92 The Stone Bridge (painting) (Rembrandt) 56, 65–66 Storr, Robert 40, 92 structuralism 39, 40 Stuart, Gilbert, Washington at Dorchester Heights (text label) 135–136 Study for Portrait on Folding Bed (painting) (Bacon) 4, 4, 82–84 subjectivity 4–9 Sunderland 147–148, see also Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art Sunflower Seeds (Ai Weiwei) 91 Sunstein, C and Thaler, R., Nudge (book) 149, 150 Supper at Emmaus (painting) (Caravaggio) 75–77 Susanna and the Elders (painting) (Tintoretto) 60–63, 61, 98–99 Sylvester, David 81 The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild (painting) (Rembrandt) 66–69, 66 Talirunili, Joe, Migration (painting) 123, 124 tapestry, by Sitisiwan 73 Tate Britain, ‘Altmodern’ exhibition 96–97 Tate Modern 80–91; digital audioguide 39; website ‘about’ information 42 ‘Tea Time’ period display, MFA, Boston 134–135, 134 Teeman, T 13 Temporal Visit model xiii–xiv, xiii temporality 85–86 texts (printed documents), in ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 148–150, 157–160 texts/text labels 178; and architectural framing 93–102; at AGO 112–113, 115–117, 118–122, 124–125, 125–126; at BALTIC 165–169; at MFA 131, 196 References 132–137, 138–140, 143–144; at V&A 38, 178; for decorative art 102–108; for ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 151, 152–156, see also audioguides; dialogue; labelling; live interpretation; touchscreen interface textual register xiv–xv themed environments 81–91, 95, 137–138 theoretical models, and interpretive practice 171–173 Thomas, Emma 163, 164, 171, 172 Thompson Klein, J 25 Thomson, Ken 110 Thomson, P 11 Thomson collection, AGO 110, 111–112 Three Wardens of the Surgeons Guild (painting) (Troost) 71–72, 71 The Times (newspaper) 81–82 Tintoretto: Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet (painting) 116; Susanna and the Elders (painting) 60–63, 61, 98–99 ‘tombstone’ labels 92, 116–126 touchscreen interface, MFA 138, 138, 139, 140–142, 141 Traffic (video) (text label) (Ismail) 156 training, of museum staff 170–171 transparency 111 Troost, Cornelius, Three Wardens of the Surgeons Guild (painting) 71–72, 71 Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam 63, 73–74, 73 Troubled Queen (painting) (Pollock) (text label) 143–144 understandings see cultural understandings Upchurch, A 21 V&A: and aestheticisation of non-art objects 13; ‘Days of Record’ exhibition 30; interpretation resources 38, 39; Mérode cup 102–103 value(s): cultural 86; hierarchies of 29–30; subjectivity and definitions of art 4–9 Velde, Esias van de, The Cattle Ferry (painting) 64–65, 64 verbal (live) interpretation xii, 163–164, 169–172 verbal register xiii–xiv verbal texts (printed documents), in ‘Hints to Workmen’ exhibition 148–150, 157–160 vicarious experience 20–21 Victoria and Albert Museum see V&A videos, and multi-directional dialogue 91 viewer(s): and artwork(s) 21, 32–35; identified in VTS 19–20, see also visitors; VTS Virgin at Prayer (painting) (Cattaro) 78 visitors: and audience focus 176–178; BALTIC visitor data and statistics 161–163; behaviour 176–177; cultural understandings of 15, 142– 143, 159–160, 169–172; and framing 55, 79; and interpretation materials 15; literacy levels of 159–160; as map users 46–49, 146; numbers of 111, 126; spectator and artwork 32–35; Temporal Visit model xiii– xiv, xiii, see also aesthetic experience; cultural understandings; information; interaction visual, primacy of 32–33 Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) 19–20, 143 visually impaired visitors 39 voice and language, and labelling 137, 153, 166, 169 VTS (Visual Thinking Strategy) 19–20, 143; accountive viewers 19 Waterman, A.S 17 Watkins, Peter, The Commune: Paris (video) 150, 151 Watson, Chris 169 Weibel, P 34 Weiss, Ben 127, 131, 144 ‘What belongs in the MFA?’ (display) 139, 140 Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, Nocturne in Black and Gold (painting) 4–5, White, Pae 99–100 ‘white cube’ model 33–35 Whitehead, Christopher 12, 13, 23, 25, 32, 40, 47, 75 Wilson, G 89 Wolf, E 32 Yenawine, Philip .. .Interpreting Art in Museums and Galleries In this pioneering book, Christopher Whitehead provides an overview and critique of art interpretation practices in museums and galleries Covering... experience of developing interpretive resources in museums and galleries and is the author of numerous books and articles in the field of museum studies Interpreting Art in Museums and Galleries... which art museums and galleries function interpretively They this by identifying art and types of art, narrating stories of art and evaluating art in different ways ranging through institutional