Many people have enjoyed visiting ‘empty’ galleries as a result of social distancing regulations. But Rachel Mackay says people are the lifeblood of museums and she can’t wait to welcome them back.
Last week, art critic Blake Gopnik published an article in the New York Times detailing his visit to New York’s “gloriously empty” art museums. The lack of visitors, he enthused, allowed him to “commune” with works such as Van Gogh’s ‘Self-Portrait With a Straw Hat’ (1887) without the usual “crowd of admirers” making such intimate conversation impossible.
As a champion of positive visitor experiences, I congratulate Gopnik on his successful visit. However, his description of this experience as “museums as they should be” divided commenters to the article, and raised several eyebrows over in the museum sector, where staff are eagerly anticipating and planning for museum visitors to return...Keep reading on blooloop.
Last week, art critic Blake Gopnik published an article in the New York Times detailing his visit to New York’s “gloriously empty” art museums. The lack of visitors, he enthused, allowed him to “commune” with works such as Van Gogh’s ‘Self-Portrait With a Straw Hat’ (1887) without the usual “crowd of admirers” making such intimate conversation impossible.
As a champion of positive visitor experiences, I congratulate Gopnik on his successful visit. However, his description of this experience as “museums as they should be” divided commenters to the article, and raised several eyebrows over in the museum sector, where staff are eagerly anticipating and planning for museum visitors to return...Keep reading on blooloop.