The Museums of Contemporary Art

Impressive in scope, and filled with details on the way the museums were designed and their collections organized and presented, this volume groups the discussion of modern and contemporary art museums in Europe and the U.S. into two parts; those that emulated or otherwise reacted to the model of the 19th-century Musee des artistes vivants (housed in the Luxembourg Palace), and those modeled after or reacting to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Lorente (art history, U. of Saragossa, Spain) excels at contextualizing museums within the political and cultural movements of their times, describing the people and motives behind their founding, their relationship to the urban area in which they are situated, and the trajectory of their success. The volume includes a number of lengthy short essays on related topics in inset boxes and is beautifully illustrated with b&w drawings of museums by Francisco-Javier Hernandez Caudal. Originally published as Los museos de arte contemporaneo: Nocion y desarrollo historico in 2008 by Editorial Trea of Gijon, the text has been ably translated by Rosa Ania and Noel Murphy. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

J. Pedro Lorente, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain