Different Display Approach
The three collections make Kirkland Museum different than other museums, but the unusual way they are displayed give the visitor an alternative museum experience.
(a) Most large city museums are displayed more sparsely than the Kirkland, and decorative art and fine art are usually shown in separate rooms. Kirkland Museum is arranged in “salon style” much like a home where—similar to the Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), the Neue Galerie (NYC), and a few others—fine and decorative art are exhibited together.
(b) In addition to paintings and sculpture being displayed together with furniture, groupings or vignettes are often arranged which showcase a particular design period such as Art Deco. Furniture is frequently accessorized with period radios, phones, lamps and other items. Many museums display furniture on risers, but furniture was never meant to be on risers, so most furniture is placed on the floor at the Kirkland.
(c) Another exhibition characteristic of the Kirkland is “comparative display” where more than one design style is shown in the same gallery. This has been particularly helpful to college classes when students can compare Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Glasgow Style and Wiener Werkstätte in the same room for instance.
Read more about this topic: Kirkland Museum Of Fine & Decorative Art
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