Red or blue or neither?(modern art's political sensibilities)

Publication: Spectator

Publication Date: 26-MAY-01

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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Spectator Ltd. (UK)

Is modern art a leftist conspiracy or elitist nonsense?

Who likes modern art? The attendance figures at Tate Modern, opened a year ago this month, suggest that the answer to that question might be -- everybody. But those amazing numbers perhaps conceal a good deal of hidden antipathy. Quite a few non-members of the art world have confided in me that, having paid an obligatory visit, they found they admired the building but were dubious about a good many of the exhibits (this is the reverse of a common art-world response, which is to be happy about the contents, but critical of the building). I think we can safely assume that even in these days of apparent triumph modernist art still has its enemies. A more searching question is, where do they come on the political spectrum -- from the Right or the Left?

At first glance, the answer might seem obvious. The art world, particularly the modern-art world, thinks it is on the Left. And, to an extent, that's true not...

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