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Museums in London

Museums in London JACK SIMMONS Drawings by GlYnn Boyd Harte HAT is a museum? It is, in modern usage, a place for assembling objects that seem to be worth preservation: pictures or other works of art, curiosities, things that are rare or historically important. They are not only collected and preserved in a museum; a selection of them is displayed there to visitors. Defined thus, the word has made its way from its origin (which was a good deal different) in fourth- century Alexandria to take its place in every modern European language. But in Britain its meaning has come to be, in one way, peculiar. Here a 'museum', in ordinary usage, may contain anything except oil paintings. For them the place is a 'picture gallery'. The distinction is a curious one, taking its origin, at least in some measure, from the snobberies of the art world; and snobbery is always a particularly powerful force in Britain. On the Continent one goes to see pictures in the Rijksmuseum, the Musee du Louvre; the proper title of the Prado is the Museo Nacional de Pintura. But in London you will not find oil paintings in the British Museum. They are in another institution, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present Taylor & Francis

Museums in London


Abstract

JACK SIMMONS Drawings by GlYnn Boyd Harte HAT is a museum? It is, in modern usage, a place for assembling objects that seem to be worth preservation: pictures or other works of art, curiosities, things that are rare or historically important. They are not only collected and preserved in a museum; a selection of them is displayed there to visitors. Defined thus, the word has made its way from its origin (which was a good deal different) in fourth- century Alexandria to take its place in every modern European language. But in Britain its meaning has come to be, in one way, peculiar. Here a 'museum', in ordinary usage, may contain anything except oil paintings. For them the place is a 'picture gallery'. The distinction is a curious one, taking its origin, at least in some measure, from the snobberies of the art world; and snobbery is always a particularly powerful force in Britain. On the Continent one goes to see pictures in the Rijksmuseum, the Musee du Louvre; the proper title of the Prado is the Museo Nacional de Pintura. But in London you will not find oil paintings in the British Museum. They are in another institution,

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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 1976 Maney Publishing
ISSN
1749-6322
eISSN
0305-8034
DOI
10.1179/ldn.1976.2.2.250
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

JACK SIMMONS Drawings by GlYnn Boyd Harte HAT is a museum? It is, in modern usage, a place for assembling objects that seem to be worth preservation: pictures or other works of art, curiosities, things that are rare or historically important. They are not only collected and preserved in a museum; a selection of them is displayed there to visitors. Defined thus, the word has made its way from its origin (which was a good deal different) in fourth- century Alexandria to take its place in every modern European language. But in Britain its meaning has come to be, in one way, peculiar. Here a 'museum', in ordinary usage, may contain anything except oil paintings. For them the place is a 'picture gallery'. The distinction is a curious one, taking its origin, at least in some measure, from the snobberies of the art world; and snobbery is always a particularly powerful force in Britain. On the Continent one goes to see pictures in the Rijksmuseum, the Musee du Louvre; the proper title of the Prado is the Museo Nacional de Pintura. But in London you will not find oil paintings in the British Museum. They are in another institution,

Journal

The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and PresentTaylor & Francis

Published: Nov 1, 1976

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