The visual arts today have two publics. One consists of people who visit, and revisit, churches, cathedrals, museums and galleries - as well as temporary loan exhibitions. The second consists of those whose experience of art is almost entirely of these exhibitions. Temporary loan exhibitions are not a new thing: they were mounted by the British Institution in London before the National Gallery was founded. But the big show - the international loan exhibition with its complex logistics, massive budget and, frequently, a good measure of political prestige - is still a comparatively new phenomenon, although its demise has been repeatedly predicted, chiefly because of rising insurance costs and the anxieties of conservators. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that what is really threatened is not the big show but the welfare of the museum or gallery which is its host.

LRB 25 March 1993 | PDF Download