Wonderful presentation Patricio del Real! I very much enjoyed your critical analysis of the MoMA exhibition and the role of Modernism and Modernist Architecture as a carrier of political meanings. I particularly appreciated your conclusion, ''Modernism traveled as a form of whiteness, exotic and colorful but whiteness (a tropical whiteness, as you said)'', it speaks about an architectural language that is very much representative of Western culture and used as a standard for evaluating aesthetics. Thank you for your presentation.
Dear Patricio,
Thank you for sharing your fascinating research. I very much enjoyed your gendered reading of two spaces of the exhibition, as well as your focus on race and pot plants (!) I’ve been tracking pot plants in mid-century museum exhibitions too, so I was delighted to be introduced to these! I have to say I was also very impressed with the way you carefully led us through your slides with the drawing tool. Is that just in powerpoint or…?
My question is about the role of the architect/trustee Philip L. Goodwin. Was it common for trustees to be given curatorial and design control at MOMA and other institutions during this time, do you know? What are the impacts of opening museum curating and design to these figures do you think? I’m interested in the role of trustees in museums in the UK in this time – their input ranges from dictatorial to non-existent, but, in my experience, by the 1940s, the ones who do take on these more active roles are often working in smaller institutions where the curators have very little training. Your perspectives would be gratefully received. Thanks again, Claire Wintle
Thank you Patricio for sharing this excellent presentation. Your focus on the actual experience of viewing the exhibition was great - in your vivid walk through and particularly the relationship with the photography exhibition, which, as you show, is so revealing of the wider agendas at the time. Your reference to the exhibition being described as enticing propaganda stayed with me because I especially liked your attention to both as interconnected elements in this presentation. Looking forward to seeing the book!
