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Art African

Stewards of the Nation's Art

Contested Cultural Authority 1890-1939

by (author) Andrea Geddes Poole

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2010
Category
African, Great Britain
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802099600
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $89.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442698703
    Publish Date
    Dec 2009
    List Price
    $78
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442698710
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $73.00

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Description

Between 1890 and 1939, the groups of men involved in running Britain's four main public art galleries - the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and the National Portrait Gallery - were embroiled in continuous power struggles. Stewards of the Nation's Art examines the internal tensions between the galleries' administrative directors, the aristocrats dominating the boards of trustees, and those in the Treasury who controlled the funds as well as board appointments.

Andrea Geddes Poole uses meticulous primary research from all four of these institutions to discuss changing ideas about class, education, and work during this period. The conflicts between aristocratic trustees and administrative directors were not only about the running of the galleries, but also reflected the era's strain between aristocratic amateurs and nouveau riche professionals. Stewards of the Nation's Art is an absorbing study that explores the extent to which the aristocracy was able to hold on to cultural power in an increasingly professional and meritocratic age.

About the author

Andrea Geddes Poole is a historian of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain and of philanthropy to the arts. She is also the author of Stewards of the Nation’s Art: Contested Cultural Authority, 1890–1939.

Andrea Geddes Poole's profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Wallace K. Ferguson Prize awarded by Canadian Historical Association

Editorial Reviews

‘Anyone who loves the great London galleries will find this dissection of their behind-the-scenes controversies both entertaining and enlightening.’

Canadian Journal of History, vol 47: 2012

'This book provides a compelling example of the interdisciplinary value of museum studies and of the museum's importance as a place at which culture, history, and society intersect... Poole's book contributes to debates about the making of the British upper class and to the way in which its gendered identity was negotiated at London's museums.'

American Historical Review: April 2011