Beyond the Prado: Museums and Identity in Democratic Spain

Holo, Sara Reuben

ISBN 10: 085323535X / ISBN 13: 9780853235354

Published by Liverpool University Press, 2000

About this Item

This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,600grams, ISBN:9780853235354.

Seller Inventory # 4846106

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Beyond the Prado: Museums and Identity in Democratic Spain
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 085323535X
• ISBN 13: 9780853235354
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 600 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • History

About this title

Synopsis

When Francisco Franco’s long dictatorship of Spain ended with his death in 1975, the transitional government set out to create a democracy that celebrated rather than suppressed regional and ethnic diversity. Its success is often described as ‘the Spanish miracle’. The new leadership committed itself to developing institutions that respected and represented Spain’s many cultures and traditions. In Beyond the Prado, Selma Reuben Holo argues that Spanish state and regional leaders consciously used the power of museums to foster democratic identity in the country’s citizens. In case studies such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Sephardic Museum in Toledo, and IVAM, the modern contemporary art Museum in Valencia, Holo tells how museums and their exhibitions have touched off vigorous debates around such issues as Basque autonomy, the relationship of art museums and politics, Catalan identity, and the opposing pull of local and global cultures. Holo chronicles how neglect of the Prado and government acquisition of the renowned Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection have affected Spain’s public image and describes the controversies surrounding Picasso’s Guernica. In their variety and activism, Spanish museums convey an image of a complex democracy that has transformed uncertainty and disagreement into an eccentric postmodern solidarity. Holo suggests that they provide lessons that could be useful elsewhere.