State of the Art

Jackson Arn | Harper's Magazine | 1st December 2025

New museums were once inspired by the belief that “smart design and calm authority were … capable of saving the world.” Some still think that. This writer is sceptical, complaining that new institutions are “growth for growth’s sake … I think of them as spaceships to nowhere”. At a basic level, how many museums do we need? As a famous museum director noted, “one cannot enjoy a pure aesthetic sensation any longer than one can enjoy the smell of an orange.”