What do you think?
Rate this book
Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts
An in-depth look at how democratic values have widened the American arts scene, even as it remains elite and cosmopolitan
Two centuries ago, wealthy entrepreneurs founded the American cathedrals of culture―museums, theater companies, and symphony orchestras―to mirror European art. But today’s American arts scene has widened to embrace multitudes: photography, design, comics, graffiti, jazz, and many other forms of folk, vernacular, and popular culture. What led to this dramatic expansion? In Entitled , Jennifer Lena shows how organizational transformations in the American art world―amid a shifting political, economic, technological, and social landscape―made such change possible.
By chronicling the development of American art from its earliest days to the present, Lena demonstrates that while the American arts may be more open, they are still unequal. She examines key historical moments, such as the creation of the Museum of Primitive Art and the funneling of federal and state subsidies during the New Deal to support the production and display of culture. Charting the efforts to define American genres, styles, creators, and audiences, Lena looks at the ways democratic values helped legitimate folk, vernacular, and commercial art, which was viewed as nonelite. Yet, even as art lovers have acquired an appreciation for more diverse culture, they carefully select and curate works that reflect their cosmopolitan, elite, and moral tastes.
Two centuries ago, wealthy entrepreneurs founded the American cathedrals of culture―museums, theater companies, and symphony orchestras―to mirror European art. But today’s American arts scene has widened to embrace multitudes: photography, design, comics, graffiti, jazz, and many other forms of folk, vernacular, and popular culture. What led to this dramatic expansion? In Entitled , Jennifer Lena shows how organizational transformations in the American art world―amid a shifting political, economic, technological, and social landscape―made such change possible.
By chronicling the development of American art from its earliest days to the present, Lena demonstrates that while the American arts may be more open, they are still unequal. She examines key historical moments, such as the creation of the Museum of Primitive Art and the funneling of federal and state subsidies during the New Deal to support the production and display of culture. Charting the efforts to define American genres, styles, creators, and audiences, Lena looks at the ways democratic values helped legitimate folk, vernacular, and commercial art, which was viewed as nonelite. Yet, even as art lovers have acquired an appreciation for more diverse culture, they carefully select and curate works that reflect their cosmopolitan, elite, and moral tastes.
- GenresNonfictionSociologyArt
256 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2019
5 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Read
November 26, 2019A story of how "reputational entrepreneurs" (first Boston Brahmins, then bureaucrats in the WPA, the Rockefellers, and contemporary omnivorous cosmopolitans) created and expanded the category of high art in America, which is now such a capacious category that it seems only tap dance and Thomas Kincade paintings aren't included.
January 16, 2025
Sometimes you hear the phrase "all art is political" and I think this book does a great job outlining exactly what that means. Our ideas of "high art" and "low brow" are defined by decades of political forces, class dynamics and monetary politics, which elevate certain kinds of art (ballet) higher than others (breakdancing). Politics like the National Endowment of the Arts can also serve as a wedge that helps to define certain things as art and others as not.
The author does a good job laying out the themes in different vertical slices in each chapter. I was a bit confused by the author's own views though. They seem critical at this kind of politicized art at every turn, even as they say it's inevitable. They don't give the reader some sort of balanced interpretation for going forward.
The author does a good job laying out the themes in different vertical slices in each chapter. I was a bit confused by the author's own views though. They seem critical at this kind of politicized art at every turn, even as they say it's inevitable. They don't give the reader some sort of balanced interpretation for going forward.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews