Museum
Related: art - cabinet of curiosities - dime museum - education - exhibition - history - secret museum - sex museum - show - city
List of museums: Louvre - MuHKA - MoMA - Tate Modern
Louvre museum, Paris, France
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium
Definition
A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value. --AHDA museum is typically a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education, enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum [Feb 2006]
Art museum
An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art, and usually primarily paintings, illustrations, and sculpture. It is also sometimes used as a location for the sale of art.
The art museum is considered a fairly modern invention, the first being the Louvre in Paris, which was established in 1793, soon after the French Revolution when the royal treasures were declared for the people. Here we see the beginnings of removing art collections from the private domain of aristocracy and the wealthy into the public sphere, where they were seen as sites for educating the masses in taste and cultural refinement. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_gallery [Feb 2006]
See also: French revolution - 1793
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) is on Cromwell Road in Kensington, West London, England. It specialises in applied and decorative arts.
The museum was established in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, following the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Its first Director was Sir Henry Cole, a utilitarian and joint organiser of the Great Exhibition who acquired some of the objects from the Exhibition for the Collection. Over the years the Museum attracted many important Collections to it. Originally, it contained both arts and sciences and was designed to inspire visitors with examples of achievement in both fields. It was believed at the time that this would help improve the tastes of consumers, manufacturers and designers, creating a virtuous circle that would benefit the culture and the economy. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum [Mar 2006]
your Amazon recommendations