The History of Museums: Crash Course Art History #3

In this episode of Crash Course Art History, we’ll learn why museums are so much more than just collections of interesting and pretty objects. Their legacy includes everything from violence to theft, to, oddly enough, mermaid hands.
Introduction: What Counts as a Museum? 00:00
Ancient Versions of Museums 0:59
Cabinets of Curiosities 3:48
Colonialism & Museums 5:10
Critiques of Museums 8:06
The Future of Museums 10:16
Review & Credits 10:58
Image Descriptions: docs.google.com/document/d/1E...
Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/1G...
***
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Пікірлер: 83

  • @Antheloras
    @Antheloras21 күн бұрын

    Can a bird curate a museum? Of course! Have you never played Animal Crossing? 😊

  • @KannikCat
    @KannikCat20 күн бұрын

    "and sometimes questionable taxidermy." I've always appreciated the understated humour of both Crash Course and Sara's work, and super delighted to see both on point here! :) Great start to this series!

  • @realspacemodels
    @realspacemodels18 күн бұрын

    This episode took a very surprising and unexpected path. I appreciate that episode explained how not all museums honor the original creators of the works.

  • @Caterfree10
    @Caterfree1021 күн бұрын

    Seeing the private collection thing is making me daydream of my goal of having a hobby room where a bunch of both official and fanmade merch of my favorite fandoms can be displayed. Prints, pins, keychains, and more just on display for me and my friends to enjoy. Maybe someday I’ll win the lottery and go on a shopping spree on Etsy and Shopify and Big Cartel lol.

  • @difranophile

    @difranophile

    20 күн бұрын

    Take film photos of them so you have it available for the future

  • @AmyRose-iw4vm
    @AmyRose-iw4vm20 күн бұрын

    I appreciate this series! Of course another big issue around museum's and their role of displaying art for the public is admission price. I know this was previously well addressed in "The Art Assignment" and have no doubt it will be addressed later in this series. Ticket prices and admission policies can explicitly exclude many people off the bat, and the culture of exclusivity created by the admission policies over time can lead to a wider cultural idea that museums (and art!) are not for everyone.

  • @someoneweird4439

    @someoneweird4439

    19 күн бұрын

    At the same time museums swallow so much money that removing entry prizes is difficult because funding (wether corporate or public) is never enough to do all of the things a museum needs to do. Entry prizes and gift shops are necessary to help finance a museum. The solution in my opinion is to charge people based on how much they can pay usually students, kids, disabled people, retired people and various other groups get a discount and if we want to stop excluding people with admission prices we need to expand on that principle. For example in my city there's one Sunday every month where most museums charge no admission.

  • @jennybowens9906
    @jennybowens990621 күн бұрын

    Proud to see Amgueddfa Cymru's Reframing Picton featured. I'm working with my colleagues on a research project around Laku Neg's installation piece in this show.

  • @Anil18834
    @Anil1883420 күн бұрын

    I'm ready to marry that bird. He sings, builds a nest, tidies up AND decorates.

  • @wildhuntrecords
    @wildhuntrecords21 күн бұрын

    Really loving the course so far, and I think Sarah is doing an incredible job!

  • @nariu7times328
    @nariu7times32820 күн бұрын

    I really love how much education has changed in my lifetime.

  • @thehomeschoolinglibrarian
    @thehomeschoolinglibrarian21 күн бұрын

    I love how this is presented because while we still have a lot of learning to do and changing our focus so that people of color are part of telling their own stories we are getting there very slowly.

  • @JoaoPessoa86
    @JoaoPessoa8621 күн бұрын

    I love how this popped up just as I was walking out of a museum

  • @sonowgetup

    @sonowgetup

    20 күн бұрын

    I'm watching this video whilst on my lunch break working at a museum! :)

  • @aingealk
    @aingealk21 күн бұрын

    loving this series so far

  • @titozerpa8611
    @titozerpa861121 күн бұрын

    What a great series!

  • @guest_informant
    @guest_informant21 күн бұрын

    As I understand it Bowerbirds have no natural predators. One interpretation is that they've moved up the hierarchy of needs; and now that life is no longer a matter of life and death it's a matter of art :-)

  • @francoislacombe9071
    @francoislacombe907120 күн бұрын

    "Still, we wouldn't call these prehistoric caves museums." Nope, the closest analog we have to these places are cathedrals.

  • @maryfranco3810
    @maryfranco381021 күн бұрын

    Another wonderful and informative addition to an amazing series! Thank you!!

  • @TSwiftie13-eh2ul
    @TSwiftie13-eh2ul21 күн бұрын

    Ooooooh I want to go to that ramen museum 🍜🍜🍜🍜

  • @mtrujillo9221

    @mtrujillo9221

    21 күн бұрын

    Hahahahaha so funny 😂

  • @jessicasnow9007
    @jessicasnow900720 күн бұрын

    What is everybody’s favorite art museum they visited? Mine was the Aarhus art museum in Denmark. It has this amazing circular rainbow glass walkway on the top

  • @AndrewTBP

    @AndrewTBP

    19 күн бұрын

    Mine is the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. When I was an undergraduate it was the Power Gallery in the same building as the Computer Science department, so I walked past it most days.

  • @JohnWilsonComicsGuy
    @JohnWilsonComicsGuy21 күн бұрын

    Of the many things I love about CC:AH, one of the most pleasant surprises is the Canon Cannon.

  • @AlthenaLuna
    @AlthenaLuna20 күн бұрын

    You talking about museums reminds me: I saw a long post on Tumblr getting into the differences in approaches between different kinds of museums and how - and how well - they serve their visitors. MY takeaway from it as an outsider was that art museums sound like they have a few things they could benefit from learning from science museums...and really wished I could share it with you (thought of tagging the Art Assignment account but wasn't sure it'd be seen) to get YOUR thoughts on it. **If** you're open to being tagged for your thoughts on such things, where would be best?

  • @Beryllahawk
    @Beryllahawk21 күн бұрын

    Another great video! I especially love this because in my city we now have a "Pocket Museum" - which is in fact an alley downtown, behind our Saenger Theater! It features a lot of local artists' work, some extremely whimsical miniatures, and a steadily changing series of themes as the year goes along. It's become one of my very favorite places in the city, with no gates, no fees, no closing hours, and endless interest. It's of course tiny and intentionally focused on THIS community, but I feel like it's one of the best modern takes on a museum I've encountered!

  • @22issie
    @22issie21 күн бұрын

    This really pumped me up for my museums & community class I'm taking this summer for my MLIS

  • @rukbat3
    @rukbat320 күн бұрын

    I was kind of hoping this episode would mention the oldest known public museum (we think), from 530 BCE in Ur, curated by Ennigaldi-Nanna, the king's daughter.

  • @miriamzajfman4305
    @miriamzajfman430520 күн бұрын

    Thank you for the "Crashcourse "🥰 - you are doing a great job Sarah 👌Can't wait for the next video 🙋‍♀💌

  • @Gandellion
    @Gandellion21 күн бұрын

    Is there a difference between art museums and art galleries? Or is this just a dialect difference between the US and UK?

  • @AndreaMorales1

    @AndreaMorales1

    21 күн бұрын

    Art Galleries sell art, I'd say that's the main difference.

  • @chevand8

    @chevand8

    21 күн бұрын

    Speaking as a professional artist myself-- I would say that the primary difference is that _museums_ are institutions dedicated to the accumulation, preservation, and public display of artwork for educational purposes, while _galleries_ tend to be for-profit enterprises that display artwork for the purpose of selling it to art collectors. These are generalizations, and there can be quite a bit of overlap in their functions, of course; the general public can see art in a gallery just as freely as in a museum (or even more freely, since some museums charge admission, while galleries rarely do). But the main point is, galleries are in the business of art as commodities, where museums are in the business of education.

  • @roecocoa

    @roecocoa

    21 күн бұрын

    In my experience (western United States), most of the pieces in an art gallery are openly up for sale, while the pieces in a museum are not. Museums typically require you to exit through the gift shop.

  • @jelina5892

    @jelina5892

    20 күн бұрын

    I’m pretty sure that art museums are for conservation of art and art history, while galleries showcase art for commercial sale/ highlight living artists

  • @cynthiam6487

    @cynthiam6487

    20 күн бұрын

    From my understanding, art galleries sell artworks. Museums do not.

  • @AndreaMorales1
    @AndreaMorales121 күн бұрын

    Another great video! Thank you so much for this series.

  • @Izzy-Maurer
    @Izzy-Maurer19 күн бұрын

    When I interned at SAAM last summer, I was blown away by how much the curatorial and interpretation departments thought about this stuff constantly: they were balancing the 'important' works their board insisted they had to display with fresh interpretations of those works that acknowledged and highlighted the historical context and the stories the works by themselves wouldn't tell. Interpreting every theme with as much diversity as possible wasn't just important to them, it was the most interesting way of doing things. I helped draw up plans for their big reinstall that would include a room full of works of sculpture by female artists, including African American/Native American artist Edmonia Lewis, and I really hope it makes the final cut.

  • @nias3202
    @nias320220 күн бұрын

    Oh, thank you! Really informative and beautifully presented. I've just discovered this Crash Course. I'm excited to follow it and I will catch up with the last episodes. I'm glad these artworks are now being returned. Should have happened much earlier. When I walk through the second hand shops in Bruxelles you feel like in a "Wunderkammer". I wonder where all of the animal heads and animal fur comes from.

  • @muskanchoradia
    @muskanchoradia17 күн бұрын

    Museums having been a way for the rich to show off their art collection reminded me of the scene from Pride and Prejudice, when Elizabeth visits Pemberley and views Mr. Darcy's galleries of paintings and sculptures. It was common practice for these large estates to have a section of their house turned into a museum and open for public viewing.

  • @_rd_kocaman
    @_rd_kocaman18 күн бұрын

    as an artist from where artifacts were taken to UK/Europe, I'm very glad that happened. Art is a common heritage for all humanity, it can't be bounded to one nationality. The art pieces deserve to be presented to people who actually appreciates it. It's like giving custody of children to well behaved families instead of their drug addict parents

  • @TadpoleArtz
    @TadpoleArtz19 күн бұрын

    Thank you for this course! I’m a hobby artist and never got to take true “art history” this is such a fun course

  • @sergiohernandezdiaz6032
    @sergiohernandezdiaz603220 күн бұрын

    I'm very happy with this series!

  • @SethWistful
    @SethWistful18 күн бұрын

    This is such a fantastic series. I look forward to each episode!

  • @Atanar89
    @Atanar8921 күн бұрын

    How did you miss Ennigaldi-Nannas museum? It was an actual museum (labels, open to public, for educational purposes) as opposed to the Egyptian, Greek and Roman things you talked about.

  • @SiskoMaSu
    @SiskoMaSu10 күн бұрын

    This series is awesome ❤ Does other countries have "Museum passes"? Here in Finland there is a pass (around 60 euros/year) that you can use to get in almost every museum in the country. There is lots of private ones included.

  • @trevinbeattie4888
    @trevinbeattie488821 күн бұрын

    And now I’ve learned that “museum” and “music” are related.

  • @Davlavi
    @Davlavi20 күн бұрын

    Interesting thanks.

  • @Kanguruo
    @Kanguruo17 күн бұрын

    Have you thought of doing a video about constructed languages like Esperanto? Many people don't know much and say things that are totally untrue. Using Esperanto in international communication would be much fairer than using a language which is a native language for some, but not for others who are therefore disadvantaged.

  • @behruzbekmatyoqubov5956
    @behruzbekmatyoqubov595621 күн бұрын

    Great😊

  • @chrisforsyth8323
    @chrisforsyth832321 күн бұрын

    Thank you.

  • @Sam_khan.404
    @Sam_khan.40420 күн бұрын

    Great video

  • @PhilRable
    @PhilRable18 күн бұрын

    So what is the difference between a museum (say The British Museum in London) and a major art gallery (say Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney)?

  • @mariaclaraa7778
    @mariaclaraa777819 күн бұрын

    What a great video

  • @Jus10Ed
    @Jus10Ed19 күн бұрын

    The history of museums would be displayed in a...museum museum.

  • @Oh_ELCapitan
    @Oh_ELCapitan21 күн бұрын

    Newfields!

  • @TSwiftie13-eh2ul
    @TSwiftie13-eh2ul21 күн бұрын

    Nooo what did they do to the intro song 😢😢😢 0:52

  • @AndrewTBP
    @AndrewTBP19 күн бұрын

    🎶 The Acropolis where the Parthenon is … 🎵

  • @guest_informant
    @guest_informant20 күн бұрын

    11:30 Is that a blue Bic biro lid?

  • @MagisterialVoyager
    @MagisterialVoyager21 күн бұрын

    ❤❤❤

  • @DomyTheMad420
    @DomyTheMad42020 күн бұрын

    0:01 youknow, i'll NEVER stop giggling at that species. If you'd throw a VIDEO of it in with a set of others and told me to find the 1 fictional/fake video/bird; i'd choose that thing. every time. no contest. Something about it just feels off. be it the eyes, the overal vibe of the thing or how i can SWEAR i can see it smiling half the time somehow i KNOW it's a real bird. i've seen it in real life. Still somehow looks like someone barely passed their exam in "Animating a realistic bird"

  • @kristenthomas8555
    @kristenthomas855521 күн бұрын

    ❤❤❤❤❤❤

  • @markmuller7962
    @markmuller796220 күн бұрын

    That's more an exposition than a museum (the bird one)

  • @mindykb15
    @mindykb1520 күн бұрын

    It would be nice if we could replace colonialism and repatriation with cooperation - work with each other to lend art between countries and cultures and collaborate on their display. For instance, while the British Museum should return stolen art, that would take away the opportunity for London visitors to learn about Benin. It would be much better if they could collaborate with the Nigerians, get permission to borrow some of these pieces and help with their display.

  • @crazyprayingmantis5596
    @crazyprayingmantis559621 күн бұрын

    My local museum is that old it's inside another museum

  • @ernestopreciado4895
    @ernestopreciado489521 күн бұрын

    Cc: The British Museum

  • @Meerkat000
    @Meerkat00017 күн бұрын

    where is the universe podcast?????????????

  • @graefx
    @graefx20 күн бұрын

    Heh. Banksy reference 🎈

  • @user-xr2zo9um1l
    @user-xr2zo9um1l18 күн бұрын

    اللهم صل وسلم على نبينا محمد

  • @aurorafauna4195
    @aurorafauna419520 күн бұрын

    So.... Who saw that bird and his blue loot and thought "Lemme smach"

  • @krashcash
    @krashcash21 күн бұрын

    I disagree with the characterization of the word primitive. We need a word to describe forms of art that are traditional, static, made with rudimentary tools and techniques. The attempt is descriptive. The only thing I would agree would be to shed its opposition with evolved. Primitive does not mean backward but it is antonymous to modern. The pejoration, in other words, is a prejudice. It isn't clear that people using it make a claim of inferiority.

  • @igorico
    @igorico20 күн бұрын

    postmodern ridiculousness

  • @BearsThatCare
    @BearsThatCare21 күн бұрын

    Was worried the episode might gloss over the history of colonialism and art theft, glad to see justice issues took up a sizable portion of the video

  • @Oxtocoatl13
    @Oxtocoatl1320 күн бұрын

    Hot take but I think the British Museum is actually a terrible museum. It's just long hallways full of glass boxes of stuff, with very little information available and that information only on tiny placards that are sometimes poorly lit. The only thing it has going for it is volume. A+ loot collection, but honestly a very bad educational tool. Other museums, even in London, do much more engaging things with their collections. The Imperial War Museum is fantastic, as is the Museum of Natural History.

  • @samwill7259
    @samwill725921 күн бұрын

    There is no excuse for any piece of art or artifacts to be kept out of its country of origin. Period.

  • @guest_informant
    @guest_informant21 күн бұрын

    Colour consciousness but, for instance, no class consciousness? Perhaps it's worth thinking about what is considered oppression, and whether some prejudices persist. Sometimes the War on Prejudice feels like the War on Drugs, ie it's the War on *Some* Prejudice, just like it is the War on *Some* Drugs

  • @salvadorHombre
    @salvadorHombre20 күн бұрын

    This series is turning to more of a soapbox to talk about injustice than it is about "art history". Not that there is anything wrong with talking about the injustices of colonialism or patriarchy but there is very little content to these videos beyond the soapboxing.

  • @NotAllBooksSmellNice
    @NotAllBooksSmellNice20 күн бұрын

    Especially enjoyed this episode