EUROPEAN ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM, OR AMERICANISM--THE TWO BEING IDENTICAL (via Mike Daley):

Meanwhile: A tale of two Europes: MoMA goes to Berlin (Josef Joffe, 9/03/04, International Herald Tribune)

In 2003, Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie scored big with an exhibition of East German art, attracting 220,000 visitors. So when an exhibition of 200 pieces from New York's Museum of Modern Art opened in February this year, half a million visitors was thought to be the required minimum, 700,000 a "sensation."

This week, attendance figures had reached one million. When MoMA-Berlin closes its doors Sept. 19, the total will probably have reached 1.2 million. To accommodate crowds still to come, the museum has again extended visiting hours.

Still, the wait is lengthy. The Berlin Tagesspiegel calculated that until early August, people had spent 446 years waiting in line. The paper pegs the individual record at nine hours. The fans bring rubber mats, thermos bottles and sleeping bags; some show up as early as 3 a.m. The paper notes that nobody has given birth in line, nor has anybody died. But once every day, an ambulance shows up.

Nonetheless, they keep coming in order to check out the Matisses and Modiglianis, and of course the paintings and objects that show off America's most famous contributions to world art, Pop and Abstract Expressionism. This makes for an startling contrast between the vox populi and the voices of the art critic establishment, which have ranged from the derisory to the downright hostile. [...]

Might there be a moral to this tale of “two” exhibits, with one stirring the fascination of the Great Unwashed, and the other, as seen by the commenting class, disclosing yet another proof of American perfidy? The moral may well be a tale of two Europes. Those who flock to MoMA-Berlin with sleeping bag and thermos in hand are mesmerized by all things American, whether highbrow or low. The other Europe, as represented by the critics cited here, resents America precisely because it is so seductive.

It is hard enough to live with a giant that spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined and unleashes its might on places like Afghanistan and Iraq. It grates even more to see this Gulliver Unbound dominate European culture from McDonald's to MoMA. The fear and loathing of America will outlive President George W. Bush.

Both shows sound unviewable, but Mr. Joffe's point is illuminating.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 7, 2004 9:45 AM