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How did the Museum of Modern Art change ideas about which objects could be displayed as art?
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Museum of modern art
The New State Gallery (Neue Staatsgalerie), Stuttgart, Germany, designed by James Stirling, completed in 1984.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fundamentally transformed the concept of art by treating the institution as a "laboratory" for contemporary culture, rather than a static repository for traditional fine arts. Under its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the museum expanded the definition of art to include diverse disciplines beyond painting and sculpture.123
MoMA pioneered the inclusion of objects previously excluded from traditional art museums, such as:
- Industrial Design: The museum displayed functional items like faucets, boat propellers, and gasoline pumps as fine art, notably in the 1934 "Machine Art" exhibition.2
- Architecture and Photography: MoMA established dedicated departments for these fields, treating them as essential components of modern creative expression.23
- Film and Graphic Design: By incorporating these media, the museum recognized the artistic value of contemporary, mass-produced, and technological forms.23
By championing these "progressive" tendencies, MoMA challenged established canons and encouraged the public to view everyday objects and modern media through an aesthetic lens, effectively broadening the scope of what is considered worthy of museum display.12