
The Cause of Art
Professionalizing the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador
Jeff Webb(Author)
University of Toronto Press
Published on 30. May 2024
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-4875-5534-4 (ISBN)
Description
In 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador had a widely celebrated oral culture but little visual art. After entering the Canadian federation, recreational painters worked to create a venue for the display of art. The Cause of Art tells the story of the advocates, curators, and professional artists who laid the foundation for an artistic community in the province.
The Memorial University Art Gallery was the site of a struggle between recreational painters who aspired to express their creative impulse and develop a Newfoundland art, and curators who wanted artists to participate in the Canadian art market and international artistic movements. The book recounts the history of passionate and strong-willed curators and cultural administrators who fought for control of the gallery. It reveals how they appealed to competing conceptions of professionalization, as well as diverse political and aesthetic preferences.
Based on extensive archival research in previously unexamined collections, and oral interviews with key informants, this book examines a cultural institution that is widely remembered as the centre of the cultural renaissance in late twentieth-century Newfoundland and Labrador. As a result, The Cause of Art illuminates the relationship between the state and the university during a key period in the modernization of the province.
The Memorial University Art Gallery was the site of a struggle between recreational painters who aspired to express their creative impulse and develop a Newfoundland art, and curators who wanted artists to participate in the Canadian art market and international artistic movements. The book recounts the history of passionate and strong-willed curators and cultural administrators who fought for control of the gallery. It reveals how they appealed to competing conceptions of professionalization, as well as diverse political and aesthetic preferences.
Based on extensive archival research in previously unexamined collections, and oral interviews with key informants, this book examines a cultural institution that is widely remembered as the centre of the cultural renaissance in late twentieth-century Newfoundland and Labrador. As a result, The Cause of Art illuminates the relationship between the state and the university during a key period in the modernization of the province.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
21 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-5534-4 (9781487555344)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jeff A. Webb is a professor and head of the Department of History at Memorial University.
Content
Illustrations
Introduction
1. The Cause of Art
2. The Struggle for Control
3. The Field or the Flower
4. The Crossroads and Command Post
5. A Forum and Focus for the Visual Arts
6. A More Viable Place to Live and Make Art
Acknowledgments and Note on Sources
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
1. The Cause of Art
2. The Struggle for Control
3. The Field or the Flower
4. The Crossroads and Command Post
5. A Forum and Focus for the Visual Arts
6. A More Viable Place to Live and Make Art
Acknowledgments and Note on Sources
Notes
Bibliography
Index