Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and the Intellectual Origins of the Museum of Modern Art

Sybil Kantor

$59.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

MIT Press
29 August 2003

Series: The MIT Press

An intellectual biography of Alfred H. Barr, Jr. founding director of the Museum of Modern Art.

Growing up with the twentieth century, Alfred Barr (1902-1981), founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, harnessed the cataclysm that was modernism. In this book-part intellectual biography, part institutional history-Sybil Gordon Kantor tells the story of the rise of modern art in America and of the man responsible for its triumph. Following the trajectory of Barr's career from the 1920s through the 1940s, Kantor penetrates the myths, both positive and negative, that surround Barr and his achievements.

Barr fervently believed in an aesthetic based on the intrinsic traits of a work of art and the materials and techniques involved in its creation. Kantor shows how this formalist approach was expressed in the organizational structure of the multidepartmental museum itself, whose collections, exhibitions, and publications all expressed Barr's vision. At the same time, she shows how Barr's ability to reconcile classical objectivity and mythic irrationality allowed him to perceive modernism as an open-ended phenomenon that expanded beyond purist abstract modernism to include surrealist, nationalist, realist, and expressionist art.

Drawing on interviews with Barr's contemporaries as well as on Barr's extensive correspondence, Kantor also paints vivid portraits of, among others, Jere Abbott, Katherine Dreier, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Philip Johnson, Lincoln Kirstein, Agnes Mongan, J. B. Neumann, and Paul Sachs.

By: Sybil Kantor
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Edition: 1
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 178mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 1.052kg
ISBN: 9780262611961
ISBN 10: 0262611961
Series: The MIT Press
Pages: 496
Publication Date: 29 August 2003
Recommended Age: From 18
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sybil Gordon Kantor is an independent scholar living in Columbus, Ohio, and Lugano, Switzerland.

Reviews for Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and the Intellectual Origins of the Museum of Modern Art

It is to the intellectual history of modern art that [this book] makes an indispensible contribution. -Hilton Kramer, The New Criterion An important contribution to the historiography of twentieth-century American art... intellectual and biographical history at its most rigorous. -Daniel A. Siedell, College Art Association Reviews * Reviews * Alfred Hamilton Barr Jr. remains a figure of fascination and contention. -Michael Kimmelman, The New York Review of Books * Reviews * It is to the intellectual history of modern art that [this book] makes an indispensible contribution. -Hilton Kramer, The New Criterion * Reviews *