Detroit Historical Museum

I love going to historical museums, because you learn about local history, culture, and about specific events that impacted the area and its development. I also like historical museums for quirky reasons, like weird (and sometimes creepy) mannequins and unusual exhibition displays. I also like to critically examine the use of signage, space, and content of such museums. The Detroit Historical Museum is a great place to learn about the first Native Americans in the Michigan areas, the development of industrial manufacturing, but surprisingly, there was no explicit mention on the racial and economic occurrences of recent decades.  

The Historical Museum had a really neat exhibition about auto manufacturing and even included an engine lift from a production line. I liked walking through their Streets of Old Detroit display, which had old store fronts from businesses from the 1840s. In an exhibition about the Underground Railroad in Michigan, it was very text heavy and could've been more visually engaging with visitors. I thought it was a lost opportunity.

I think that smaller museums in America offer people a real chance to connect with local history. In visiting the Historical Museum I wanted to see some self-awareness of place and some suggestion of dialogues about the decline of industry, the city's bankruptcy, as well as the race relations among local communities. Perhaps there was a place that mentioned some of these things, perhaps I overlooked it? But part of having a conversation about difficult subjects is highlighting that the conversation is even happening. Perhaps I assumed that the museum of history of such a distinctive city would have a preface on its current and future impact?

I earnestly don't mean to pick or rag on the Historical Museum, I think I wanted some reflections on the hard-working community conversations that are being had to negotiate the future of the city.

Detroit Institute of Arts

I visited Detroit several weeks ago, because I wanted to check out the Detroit Institute of Art, which is well-known for its murals by Diego Rivera. I was surprised by the abundance and quality the Institute had in its overall collection. It had a very strong selection American artworks, including pieces from the Hudson River School, and very strong Medieval and Renaissance collections as well. 

The a true highlight of the museum, Rivera's murals, are stunning and exhilarating. I was floored at how well the murals configured within the atrium space at the museum. Rivera's take on industrial progress and the city of Detroit reflect his beliefs of Marxism and critical views on capitalism. Rivera tried to encompass all aspects of industry, from complex mass manufacturing to the human cost of fast-paced production lines that diminished the individual. 

The Institute also had an extremely strong European collection that included many master painters and sculptors. It's always fun encountering familiar works of art at different stages and scales, such as Carpeaux's Ugolino and His Sons (pictured below).

I had a wonderful time at the Detroit Institute of Arts and I hope to make it back sometime next year. 

A portrait by Thomas Eakins

A landscape by Renoir

A model for one side panel for the Arc de Trimoph in Paris.

Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare

See The Met's finished Ugolino: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/67.250/