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E xhibitions and Expectations: The Case of “Degenerate Art”
Author(s) -
Doering Zahava D.,
Pekarik Andrew J.,
Kindlon Audrey E.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
curator: the museum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2151-6952
pISSN - 0011-3069
DOI - 10.1111/j.2151-6952.1997.tb01294.x
Subject(s) - exhibition , endowment , the arts , visual arts , media studies , sociology , art history , art , political science , law
This article describes a study of the exhibition “ Degenerate Art”: The Fate of the Avant‐Garde in Nazi Germany conducted in 1991 and 1992 at two venues, Washington, DC, and Berlin, Germany. The study, based on survey data, found that visitors in both locations were very similar, and that their descriptions of the main purpose of the exhibition were also alike. The two audiences differed strongly, however, on whether or not the exhibition had anything to do with their lives. A significantly higher percentage of Washington visitors found the exhibition personally relevant. The paper attributes this difference to the concerns of the two audiences at that time. Specifically, it links the Washington reaction to the contemporaneous controversy regarding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Overall, the study addresses the relationship between prior attitudes and exhibition experiences.