Library Catalog

Entitled : Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts /

Lena, Jennifer C.

Entitled : Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts / Jennifer C. Lena. - 1 online resource (256 p.) : 2 b/w illus.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. The Invention of American Art, 1825-1945 -- 2. The WPA and the Opening of the American Arts -- 3. The Museum of Primitive Art, 1940-1982 -- 4. Opportunity Structures -- 5. Expansion: 1900-2000 -- 6. Cultural Appropriation -- 7. Conclusion -- APPENDIX. Methodological Appendix -- NOTES -- WORKS CITED -- INDEX

restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

An in-depth look at how democratic values have widened the American arts scene, even as it remains elite and cosmopolitanTwo centuries ago, wealthy entrepreneurs founded the American cathedrals of culture-museums, theater companies, and symphony orchestras-to mirror European art. Today's American arts scene however has widened to embrace multitudes: photography, design, comics, graffiti, jazz, and many 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-amidst 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 that was viewed as non-elite. Yet, even as art lovers have acquired tastes for more diverse culture, they carefully select and curate works that reflect their cosmopolitan, elite, and moral tastes.




Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.


In English.

9780691158914 9780691189840

10.1515/9780691189840 doi

2019942227


Art and popular culture--United States.
Art, American.
Arts and society--United States.
Arts, American--20th century.
Arts, American--21st century.
Elite (Social sciences)--United States.
Equality--United States.
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General.

NX180.S6

700.973