As museums become more obsessed with popularity and bigger audiences, the desire to signal significance often comes at the price of boosterism. That's what we call the growing trend to pump up works of art and artists rather than give audiences information and opinion that helps them make up their own minds. Take this description of a major McCahon work in one of our leading art museums. The work is "... recognised by McCahon scholars as one of the artist’s most personal, profound, and deeply allusive masterpieces. As a pivotal work in his oeuvre, the painting will always be regarded as constituting one of the great moments in New Zealand art history.” Says who?
To paraphrase Wikipedia (ok, not always standard bearers for accuracy but they really try): “This paragraph does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this para by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.”
Thanks K
