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Realisation-from Seeing to Understanding: The Origins of Art by Spalding, Julian (April 14, 2015) Paperback
Our world view has changed from a flat earth under the dome of heaven to a planet spinning in the universe. We perceived the world as a body, like ours, then as a tree, a pyramid, an altar, and finally as a veil which became a window through which we peered only to discover ourselves on a sphere, a bubble which might burst at any moment. Our changing views are interpreted through iconic images of the remote and more recent the Venus of Willendorf, the Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, the Scream, Sydney Opera House, and the Guggenheim, Bilbao.
- GenresArt
Unknown Binding
First published March 16, 2015
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About the author
Julian Spalding
22 books4 followersI was born in 1947, and brought up on a council estate in St Mary Cray, on the fringes of South London. My upbringing made me acutely aware of the inequalities unfairly imposed by class and wealth, and of the effects of cultural deprivation on people’s lives.
I studied art history at Nottingham University and art at Nottingham Art College, where I regrettably allowed my love of and talent for watercolour painting to be crushed by the rigorous exercises of modernism.
I made objects in plastic and, among other things, designed an acrylic ‘Rainbow Clock’ which went into production, and was selected by the Design Council. But I felt I didn’t have enough to say to become a full-time creative artist. Nor did I want to become an academic lecturer, spending my life in darkened rooms with slides. So I chose to work in museums and galleries, where art and people meet.
I worked in museums in Leicester and Durham before becoming director of galleries for Sheffield, and then Manchester. In 1989 I was appointed director of Glasgow Museums, responsible for twelve institutions, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the Burrell Collection - by far the largest local authority museum service in Britain, and bigger than most of the nationals. I enjoyed working for local authorities, and the opportunities this gave me to be responsive to local communities.
I established several award-winning, innovative galleries and museum services. These include the Ruskin Gallery in Sheffield, devoted to the teachings of John Ruskin, and in Glasgow, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Art and Life, the world’s first public museum of comparative religion; the Gallery of Modern Art, a radical rethink of international modern art (ruthlessly reduced and conceptualised since my departure); and the Open Museum, a ground-breaking service which opens museum stores for community use.
Through trial and error I evolved new approaches for museums and galleries, to enable them to improve what they offer their public, a practical philosophy later outlined in my book The Poetic Museum (see Books).
However, my career was truncated before I had fully realised an exemplar poetic museum, which I planned to do by recreating the Victorian encyclopaedic museum in 21st century terms within Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum . In 1999 my post, along with the directorships of Libraries, Performing Arts, Recreation and Sport, was abolished by Glasgow City Council, and replaced by a leisure management system.
I spent a year as a researcher at the National Museum in Copenhagen, and I have over the years advised on museum development in several other countries, giving keynote addresses at museum and art gallery conferences in the USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden and Russia.
In 2000, as Master of the Guild of St George (an educational charity established by John Ruskin), I established the nationwide and now international Campaign for Drawing, to raise awareness of the value of drawing in art, in education and in daily life.
As a broadcaster, I have been a regular contributor to Today, PM, Start the Week, Front Row and other programmes on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3 and Radio Scotland. I have also made programmes including a series of interviews with artists for Radio 3’s Third Ear. My television appearances include a short film on the future of the British Museum which I wrote and presented for BBC 2’s Newsnight, as well as numerous contributions to arts, news and current affairs programmes on the BBC and independent channels.
In 2001 I began to devote myself chiefly to writing.
I studied art history at Nottingham University and art at Nottingham Art College, where I regrettably allowed my love of and talent for watercolour painting to be crushed by the rigorous exercises of modernism.
I made objects in plastic and, among other things, designed an acrylic ‘Rainbow Clock’ which went into production, and was selected by the Design Council. But I felt I didn’t have enough to say to become a full-time creative artist. Nor did I want to become an academic lecturer, spending my life in darkened rooms with slides. So I chose to work in museums and galleries, where art and people meet.
I worked in museums in Leicester and Durham before becoming director of galleries for Sheffield, and then Manchester. In 1989 I was appointed director of Glasgow Museums, responsible for twelve institutions, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the Burrell Collection - by far the largest local authority museum service in Britain, and bigger than most of the nationals. I enjoyed working for local authorities, and the opportunities this gave me to be responsive to local communities.
I established several award-winning, innovative galleries and museum services. These include the Ruskin Gallery in Sheffield, devoted to the teachings of John Ruskin, and in Glasgow, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Art and Life, the world’s first public museum of comparative religion; the Gallery of Modern Art, a radical rethink of international modern art (ruthlessly reduced and conceptualised since my departure); and the Open Museum, a ground-breaking service which opens museum stores for community use.
Through trial and error I evolved new approaches for museums and galleries, to enable them to improve what they offer their public, a practical philosophy later outlined in my book The Poetic Museum (see Books).
However, my career was truncated before I had fully realised an exemplar poetic museum, which I planned to do by recreating the Victorian encyclopaedic museum in 21st century terms within Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum . In 1999 my post, along with the directorships of Libraries, Performing Arts, Recreation and Sport, was abolished by Glasgow City Council, and replaced by a leisure management system.
I spent a year as a researcher at the National Museum in Copenhagen, and I have over the years advised on museum development in several other countries, giving keynote addresses at museum and art gallery conferences in the USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden and Russia.
In 2000, as Master of the Guild of St George (an educational charity established by John Ruskin), I established the nationwide and now international Campaign for Drawing, to raise awareness of the value of drawing in art, in education and in daily life.
As a broadcaster, I have been a regular contributor to Today, PM, Start the Week, Front Row and other programmes on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3 and Radio Scotland. I have also made programmes including a series of interviews with artists for Radio 3’s Third Ear. My television appearances include a short film on the future of the British Museum which I wrote and presented for BBC 2’s Newsnight, as well as numerous contributions to arts, news and current affairs programmes on the BBC and independent channels.
In 2001 I began to devote myself chiefly to writing.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 4, 2016
So so bad. I couldn't get past page 46. Apart from being incredibly sexist this book reads as a drunken art professor rambling about a load of old nonsense. The only reason I've rated this a 1 and not a zero is because it gave me and my friends A few good laughs when I read aloud a few of the paragraphs!
May 5, 2015
A marvellous account of cultural life. He covers the whole of human history with a light touch and a dogged insistence on the enchantment that art creates. It's a very inspiring book to read if you are in the process of creating and wondering how it all fits together.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews