Love of Art: European Art Museums and their Public - Softcover

Bourdieu, Pierre

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745619142 ISBN 13: 9780745619149

Publisher: Polity, 1997

Synopsis

Museums and art galleries appear to be open to all; yet, in fact they are visited only by a small segment of the population. What distinguishes visitors from the majority? In this classic study, Bourdieu, Darbel and Schnapper address such questions on the basis of a wide-ranging survey of museum visitors throughout Europe.

About this title

Review:

"At last, this important book is available in translation. It is an essential component of Bourdieua s ouvre, and of his contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the social basis of High Culture. It also provides theorists of the arts with that rare but necessary critical tool: factual information about the world of the museum." Janet Wolff "This is vintage Bourdieu, showing how class generates culture, which in turn reinforces class." Museum Anthropology

From the Back Cover:

Museums and art galleries appear to be and would claim to be open to all, and yet, in fact, they are visited only by a small segment of the population. Who are those whose love of art brings them into museums? What distinguishes them from the majority of people who exclude themselves or who are effectively excluded?

In this classic study, Bourdieu, Darbel and Schnapper address such questions on the basis of a wide-ranging survey of museum visitors throughout Europe. By examining the social conditions of museum practices, they show that cultivated taste is not a natural gift but a socially inculcated disposition which is distributed unevenly, and which predisposes some to distinguish themselves through their love of art, while others are deprived of this privilege.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0745619142
• ISBN 13: 9780745619149
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 190