Art World
In These 12 Pictures of Masked Museum Visitors, Photographers Are Trying Hard—Really Hard—to Capture the Current Moment
Is the highly symbolic photo of the masked art-museum visitor an emerging genre? Decide for yourself.
If you follow the art news—and we at Artnet News really hope you do!—you probably have been seeing a lot of photos of the genre we call “people in masks looking at art.”
As museums around the world cautiously reopen or contemplate reopening, just what kind of health-and-safety measures each one puts into place is an important story. But then there’s also the Big Story, the “How We Live Now” story—and nothing speaks to that feeling in the art world at the moment quite like “people in masks looking at art.”
Below, we’ve picked out a few of the news pics we’ve come across where it seems like the photographer is shooting for symbolism, complete with our title for the kind of story that it is just crying out to illustrate.
“These Are Surreal Times in the Museum World”
A man wearing a face mask stands next to a portrait of Spanish artist Salvador Dali on the reopening day of the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueras, Spain. (Photo by Louis Gene/AFP, via Getty Images)
“Even Masks Will Not Stop People From Taking Selfies With Art”
Visitors wearing face masks take a selfie with the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
“Hot New Artgoing Activity: Wondering What Other Visitors Look Like Under Their Masks”
A visitor wearing a face mask walks by a work by Andy Warhol during an exhibition at Tate Modern in London. (Photo by Han Yan/Xinhua via Getty)
“There Is a Certain Element of Fashion When It Comes to Masks in the Museum”
A visitor looks at paintings at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on July 3, 2020. (Photo by Dimitar Silkoff / AFP via Getty Images)
“Art Is Facing a Real Onslaught”
A visitor wearing a face mask at the Imperial War Museum in London. (Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images.)
“Culture Is Lost in the Maze of Safety Measures”
A tour group of two in the Old North Church in Boston on July 24, 2020. (Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Museums Are in a Pinch”
A museum patron at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston’s Seaport District on July 13, 2020. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Museums Feel Pretty Weird Right Now”
A woman with a face shield on visits the State Hermitage Museum reopening. Peter Kovalev/TASS (Photo by Peter KovalevTASS via Getty Images)
“Museums Will Look Different in the Future”
A visitor wearing a face mask visits the recently reopened Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on July 1, 2020. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images)
“Art Is Taking a Long Hard Look in the Mirror”
Visitors in face masks view an exhibition at the State Historical Museum in Moscow. (Photo by Artyom Geodakyan/TASS via Getty Images)
“Society Still Believes in Museums”
A couple wearing face masks are seen looking a religious cross at the Palacio de la Aduana in Spain. (Photo by Jesus Merida/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Museums: Still Kooky”
A visitor enjoying a new exhibition “Mushrooms: The art, design and future of fungi” during the reopening of Somerset House on July 16, 2020 in London. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
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