Pre Raphaelites: Victorian Avant – Garde

Tate Britain

Spaces of display.

My previous post spoke about looking at museums differently and how we should make our own judgement on art and not conform to the institution.

So I decide to visit the Pre Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain but this time I wasn’t looking at just the art I was looking beyond it. I decide not to follow the easy clockwise system the crowd had created or even follow the floor plan that the Tate’s “institute” had made for us. With me not buying an audio guide or even looking at the artwork information. I was left freely to walk around and make my own judgement.

But not only did I find the artwork interesting I found that watching the people and there reaction a lot more interesting. Why where they all following the plan, all listening to the audio guide and being instructed where to go and what to look at. What was the museum missing out why where we being told what to do and why did we all do it? Why did we need to conform to the “rules”.

Rules At the Tate

Why where some painting more renowned and more crowed than others. Take Millais’s Ophelia (1851-52) it attracted a large crowd but why has this become more famous than others? . Even with the crowd of people admiring the painting they were hushed along as if there germs were contaminating it, but everyone moved with no question, why did that man have the authority to move us from something we had paid to see

I found it interesting that we couldn’t take images yet all of these images where on postcard within the shop, which was conveniently placed as you went through the exit. So is it all, about the money? You’ve purchased a ticket as well as the extra £4.00 for an audio guide then to walk through a shop how much where they making from this exhibition. So it question is the memory and culture of the artwork more important or is it the profit and money making more important

Looking at the artwork in a new light and watching the people around I began to see the museum in a whole new light and I began to feel as though the culture and memory of artwork was being lost within the money. A museum isn’t meant for us all to admire its for who will pay the biggest price.

On reflection this a sad thought, are we going to loose out on great art just because someone puts a bigger price on it, or they dismiss it as not being worthy enough, who has the right to tell us what is good, shouldn’t we judge for ourselves.

Surely art should be for all. How do you put a price on art!!