Art and the State

Abstract

My remarks in this paper will fall under three main headings. First, I shall enquire in a general way concerning the relation between the state and contemporary art. Then I shall discuss the special position of museums and galleries in regard to the preservation of the art of the past. Finally, I shall have something to say about the financial problems involved. Throughout these divisions the discussion will be directed specifically to the relation between the state and the visual arts. But much of what I have to say in the first and last sections has relevance to the relation of the state to art and learning in general.

An address delivered to the annual meeting of the Friends of the Birmingham Art Gallery on March 19th, 1958. It has, however, been considerably expanded, especially in section II. Some of the illustrative figures have been rendered obsolete by changing conditions; and, where this is so, I have indicated the necessary corrections in footnotes and in the postscript. But I have not altered the text in this respect, for to do that properly would be to write another paper with a different temporal setting. As indicated in the postscript, there has been a certain amount of improvement since 1958.