Museumjournaal en de ontvangst van de neo-avant-garde in Nederland 1961-1973

Abstract

During the fortyone years of its existence the art magazine Museumjournaal (1955-1996) played a major role within the Netherlands artworld. Until the late seventies it was the only magazine in the Dutch language area to dedicate itself exclusively to international modern and contemporary art. Museumjournaal was founded in 1955 as a mouthpiece of the three most important museums of modern art in the Netherlands. From the early sixties on successive editorial boards, made up by young museum functionaries, gradually concentrated on advanced forms of international contemporary art. At the same time broadening the magazine's scope on these art forms by offering authors from outside the museum, among whom art critics and art historians, a platform for their writing. This thesis examines the ways in which the magazine's key players of the 1960s and 1970s chronicled international modern and contemporary art, arguing that most of them were strongly conditioned by avant-garde ideals concerning the interrelation between art and society, the origins of which can be traced back to prewar constructivism. The thesis also investigates how their appreciation of advanced art influenced their views on issues relating to art, in particular museum policy and art criticism.