Museum History – A Book Review
Do you know what Museum History is all about? Do you know how museums are historical and how they portray the past? But most importantly do you know what museum history is all about? Do you know how museums change over time?
Well, let’s start with a question more directly about museums and what museum history is all about. In this book, Norton Simon collected all the various art and artifacts from the Pre-Christian period through the Medieval period. He then created a sort of museum history for each time period. In his book he used paintings, waxworks, sculptures, tapestries, wood sculptures, metalwork, and other artifacts to portray how the artists lived during that time period. I think the book did a great job in telling how artists lived during different eras of history and what their artistic influences were.
The book includes a wonderful section on the beginnings of European museums. I especially love the section on the early French collections and the works of Jan van Eyck. I have many different appreciation for the works of Jan van Eyck but the early French collections are just superb. The book has many different sections on European museums and their growth throughout history. There are sections on art and artifacts for museums all over the world, and the famous collection of St Florence Novellas.
The book finally concludes with a short note on interpreting the significance of the different artifacts in the book. I personally found the note to be very interesting and not everyone would agree with me on certain things but I do see the value of interpretation. I think anyone who is an artist or appreciates fine art would enjoy understanding the significance of these works of art in museum history as well as in everyday life. The book has many different sections on things to do with the art, what the works meant to the artists, and also included information on how to prepare for future exhibitions, preservation, as well as the importance of preservation for the future.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I hope that other people who are into the history of different cultures will enjoy it as well. The writing style is clear and there are many different examples throughout the book that make things crystal clear. If you are an artist and are interested in learning more about the history of different art periods and cultures then this is a book that you will find extremely useful.
If you are an artist and would like to learn more about the history of your chosen period of time, or if you would just like to find out more about the places and items that inspired artists from other times and regions then this is a great little book to read. It covers a lot of ground and provides a wealth of information for both artists and non-artists alike. For an artist, this book will serve as a perfect reference manual and a wonderful learning aid. For a non-artist, the content will be interesting and engaging.
