SPACES OF EXPERIENCE: ART GALLERY INTERIORS FROM 1800 TO 2000 by Charlotte Klonk

Yale University Press, 2009, First edition, 244 pp., 8" X 10 1/4", Hardcover

Fine in very good + dust jacket

Klonk‘s Spaces of Experience examines the evolution of the art gallery interior from the dense hang of the 17th century salon through to today’s bespoke architect-designed gallery spaces such as the Guggenheim Bilbao and Tate Britain.

Ranging idiosyncratically across the last two centuries, she examines the influence of colour theorists, psychologists, businessmen and artists on the design decisions undertaken by museum directors throughout Europe and the USA. Klonk shows how changing theories of perception and individuality, as well as evolving attitudes toward gallery visitors, were at the centre of some surprisingly intense debates about how to present art.