ABSTRACT
The Private Collector’s Museum connects the rising popularity of private museums with evolving models of collecting and philanthropy, and new inter-relationships between private and public space. It examines how contemporary collectors construct museums to frame themselves as cultural arbiters of global distinction.
By exploring a range of in-depth contemporary case studies, the book aims for a more complex understanding of the private collector’s museum, assessing how it is realised, funded and understood in a broader cultural context. It examines the ways in which this particular museum model has evolved within a historical Western tradition of collecting and museum-building, and considers how private museums will endure alongside their public counterparts. It also sheds light on the shifting patterns of collecting, such as the transition of personal art collections into the public sphere. The developments are situated within the wider context of private–public engagement in general.
Providing a new analysis of philanthropy, public access and the museum, The Private Collector’s Museum is essential reading for scholars and students interested in the private museum, and key reading for those interested in related issues.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|2 pages
Overview
chapter 1|14 pages
Setting the foundation
part II|2 pages
The private collector’s museum
chapter 5|21 pages
The emergence of the stand-alone museum
part III|2 pages
The (re)emergence of the single patron collection museum