Culture, Class, City: The National Gallery, London and the Spaces of Education, 1822-57
Author(s)
Trodd, Colin
Abstract
It is impossible to form a history of the National Gallery in this period without addressing the network of discourses by which it was figured, framed, and defined. In this chapter I will concentrate upon two areas of analysis: firstly the association of art with education and discipline and, secondly, articulations of history and the body in cultural discourse. Each is concerned with cultural and social identity. In both cases I will argue that identity is a relational term: that it involves the relay of meaning and the construction of models of values. In addition, I will look at the way in which contemporary conceptualizations and descriptions of space within the National Gallery were involved in these processes of identity formation. However, before developing an analytical overview of the National Gallery, it is necessary to map out some important historical markers in its emergence as a cultural institution.
