There are museum exhibitions that divide critical opinion along party lines, so to speak, and there are museum exhibitions that win something close to universal acclaim. But it is rare—in my experience, anyway—for a major museum exhibition that is devoted to a large and familiar subject to meet with a chorus of scorn, condescension, and derision from critics of almost every persuasion. Yet this has been the unhappy fate of the exhibition called “The American Century: Art & Culture 1900–2000” at the Whitney Museum of American Art.[1] Critics who rarely agree about anything, in either art or life, have found much to dislike about “The American Century” and little to admire. Their reasons vary, of course, but not their overall verdict. It is this adverse critical response to “The American Century” that has made this exhibition something of a milestone in the annals...

 

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