The Met and the Masses in Postwar America: A Study of the Museum and Popular Art Education

The Met and the Masses explores the collaborations between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Book-of-the-Month Club during the mid-20th century, showcasing how the Met sought to bring art to the masses while maintaining its reputation as an institution of high culture. It provides valuable insights into the history of modern art, museum and curatorial studies, arts and cultural management, heritage studies, and the history of art publications.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Book-of-the-Month Club collaborated during the mid-20th century to bring art from the Met's collections directly into the homes of subscribers. Three book projects were undertaken between 1948 and 1962: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures (1948-1957), The Metropolitan Seminars in Art (1958-60), and a print reproduction of Rembrandt's Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer (1962). This book explores the collaborations between the two institutions, placing them in various contemporary and historical contexts, including the relation of cultural education to democracy in America, the history of the Met as an educational institution, the rise of art education in postwar America, and the concurrent transformation of the home into a space that mediated familial privacy and the public sphere. Using never before published archival material, the book demonstrates how the Met sought to bring art to the masses in postwar America while upholding its reputation as an institution of high culture. It is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and curators interested in the history of modern art, museum and curatorial studies, arts and cultural management, heritage studies, and the history of art publications.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350277274