Museums Showcase Stories, Not Art
Competing for eyeballs
At the core, art is simple. It speaks to you, or it doesn’t. It rarely speaks to me. My parents dragged me to many museums as a child. I’d rather read a book.
So, I wasn’t expecting much from a recent visit to The Clark for a Rodin exhibition.
Modern museums are nothing like my childhood memories. They’re competing against social media and video games. They’ve gotten interesting.
The exhibit told the story of Rodin’s struggles with the art establishment. His early support by wealthy women. How his submissions were hidden because of their “scandalous” nature. Accusations of cheating. Patrons refusing the sculpture he spent 7 years creating.
Even if the art didn’t speak to me — and most of it didn’t — the stories were fascinating. I wouldn’t mind going to more museums.
