Contents
Overview
The Museum of Modern Art has boasted a plethora of notable artists throughout its near-century existence. But how representative is this “modern” museum of society and social affairs? Take a deep dive into the museum’s acquired pieces and their creators.
Beginnings
Abby Rockefeller’s personal gallery
Despite having the Rockefeller name, Abby felt at odds with her husband when it came to acquiring art. John D. Jr. (son of John D. Sr., the oil magnate) shared his father’s views of art as being a suspicious way to spend money.
“‘Senior’ didn’t believe in buying art. The very idea of spending money on useless objects seemed ludicrous to him, and morally suspect. Junior had absorbed his views, but to Abby it was obvious that ‘art enriches the spiritual life, as well as being good for one’s nerves’. For her, an urge to acquire ran in the family.”
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This didn’t phase Abby. According to others, she was quite the force to be reckoned with:
“‘Had she been a man,’ wrote Philip Johnson, who mounted MoMA’s exhibition of modern architecture in 1932, ‘she could have commanded an army.’”
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It’s become clear that Abby’s mission to collect and showcase art was becoming a fervent passion.
Now
Fast forward to today and the museum boasts over 16,000 artists including Francis Bacon, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh.
Collection of various MoMa artworks
But what got them there?
Data acquired from the museum’s website might help.
A Journey Through Time
The 1940s
Total acquisitions fluctuated for the museum over time. The first spike in art purchases dated from 1939 to 1944. This could be attributed to World War II and the economic boom in America. Perhaps it was German Jewish art salvaged from the war?
Regardless, it was the museum’s first mass art acquisition.
The 60s
A magnified version occurred in the 60s. Total acquisitions went from a mere 1,538 high in 1940 to a whopping 12,526 in 1964—the most for the museum in its history. My first theory involved Civil Rights in America. Wouldn’t modern art mimic changes in society?
After a deep dive into the type of media and nationality of artists, I discovered something different. The majority of acquisitions were French art.
Particularly, the artworks consisted primarily of French illustrated books and photographs.
Charles de Gaulle ruled during the 60s in France. Apparently, the French president had good relations with America. Kennedy and Nixon visited de Galle and Paris frequently, which may have precipitated the purchases.
Portrait of Charles de Gaulle by Aaron Shikler (1960)
My theory of social representation is now out the window! The data tells us the political elites likely displayed strong influence in art acquisitions during this era. Therefore, the spike in the 60s could be more attributed to this than racial inequality/justice.
The 2000s
The next shifts are more recent and prolonged. Starting in 2000, there began a gradual increase in acquisitions. Most notable is 2008; the year of the Great Recession. The increase contradicts my earlier theory about WWII economic growth as an indicator of increased art purchases. Perhaps art & museums were a form of entertainment and coping during the economic struggle?
What I noticed in the 2000s is that there were far more artist nationalities representing the museum—including corporate entities.
Moreover, the types of media were becoming more diverse. Avant guard art from the 60s and 70s was being sought after. Fluxus art, from the international artist society of the same name, was acquired and identified as “mixed media” and “unassigned” art.
George Brecht, Robert Watts, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas were all prominent Fluxus contributors during the era. Maciunas was known for his collections of printed cards, games, and ideas, organized in boxes called Fluxkits or Flux Boxes. The group accounted for a large portion of the purchases.
Flux Year Box 2, c.1967, produced by George Maciunas containing many other Fluxus artist works
George Maciunas
Looking deeper, you also see a rise in Audio, Video, Film and Architecture. It appears MoMA is evolving to represent modern art with the rise of technology. As people adopt the internet and CPUs, more types of computer-related art is produced. The museum could be mirroring shifts in culture and technology—it is modern art, anyway.
Trends
The 60s were a pivotal period for the MoMA. Vast social and technological changes were occurring that would require the institution to live up to its name.
It’s important to note the artist dataset contained only nationality data. Inferences about racial distribution should be avoided since this specific datapoint was not included.
Nationality Distribution
Art was heavily American after the 1960s. Before, it included a lot of French and German art.
As the 2000s unwind, you see more corporate entities being represented in the museum as well.
Classification (Medium) Distribution
The type of artwork also began to diversify.
Architecture, video, audio, and film all increase starting in the 70s with traditional media being phased out.
Gender Distribution
Gender remains predominantly male throughout the museum’s existence, except in 1995 where female artists accounted for approximately 50% of that year’s acquisitions.
A surge in female acquisitions in the 90s increased average female representation from ~10% of yearly acquisitions to ~20% in the 21st century.
Data Retrieval
Sources
Data obtained from the Museum of Modern Art via GitHub in which the files were updated monthly. The data contains information from the museum’s website, documenting every acquisition since the museum’s opening in 1929. Every artist is documented, too. The two files—“Artists” and “Artworks”— had nearly 15,000 and 138,000 records, respectively.
You can find the most up-to-date version of the data files here: github.com/MuseumofModernArt/collection