Friends Divided: Friends Divided: The Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal or the Muses des Beaux-Art-de Montreal?

Image source: Flickr.

It was a Tuesday afternoon; Luke had recently arrived in Montreal. We were discussing the schedule for the day, interested in visiting one of Montreal's art museums. The Musée d'Art Contemporain (MACM) or the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (MBAM); where is art going, or where has it been? A question for the ages! What began as a simple day of leisure became a conflict amongst friends: of values, preferences, and the inherent meaning of the purpose of art. The conventional division of exhibiting Contemporary Art separate from Canonical Art is a division that alters the aspects by which art is interpreted.

Our first consideration in deciding which museum to visit was location. Because we were staying at my apartment in the Plateau district of Montreal, we wanted the convenience of locality; a trip to the outskirts of Montreal would have constricted our time for other outings we had planned. Conveniently, both the MACM and MBAM are located within the central business district. With the MACM in the Place-des-Arts neighbourhood and the MBAM in the Ville-Marie borough, both were equally convenient. We began to consider the art in terms of locality. The MACM places an emphasis on Western Art; unless there is an exhibition featuring artists from the East, there is a confined exposure to a world view of contemporary art. In its collection The MBAM has early works of Egyptian sculpture and Greek pottery, and was exhibiting a collection of Chinese Qin Dynasty sculptures beginning from the 9^th century BCE.  The MBAM offers a wider exposure to art movements throughout the world allowing for a more informed interpretation of Canonical Art throughout history.

Next we considered the aspect of time; both museums were open. The schedules for the museums are as follows:

Date: Musee d'Art Contemporain; Musee des Beaux-Arts

MONDAY: MACM Closed; MBAM Closed

TUESDAY: MACM 11-6; MBAM 11-5

WEDNESDAY: MACM 11-9; MBAM 11-9

THURSDAY: MACM 11-6; MBAM 11-9

FRIDAY: MACM 11-6; MBAM 11-9

SATURDAY: MACM 11-6; MBAM 10-5

SUNDAY: MACM 11-6; MBAM 10-5

In terms of hours the MABM is more accessible. What about the historical accessibility of works of art? The MACM exhibits works confined to working artists, or artists whose careers have been active within the most recent decades. The MBAM's collection begins in pre-historic times, spanning up until modern day. The MBAM is more accessible in terms of hours of convenience, as well as exhibiting a comprehensive collection of the history of Art.

Another consideration was the cost and value of each museum. The MACM's admission is a $10 adult rate, except for Wednesday evenings when it's free.  The MBAM's cost is valued on a sliding scale determined by the current exhibition, and ranges from $8-$15 for people below 25. The Permanent Collection is offered free of charge, at all times, for all ages.  By exhibiting contemporary artists, the MACM's collections and exhibitions favour working artists. In terms of value, these artists usually have gallery representation allowing the potential to assign a tangible monetary value to the works. If you liked a work on exhibition, it could be possible to find the artist's representing gallery and invest in his or her work. Does this make the function of a contemporary museum an overblown functioning gallery? On the other side, the MBAM's collection is derived from historically famous artists: artists whose works are well known and perform didactically in the composition of the cannon of art. These works can have no monetary value; they are priceless. What you won't find at the MBAM is works of unknown artists. Should a museum push the envelope or should it conform to rigidly set conventions of familiarity in the name of value?

The final determining factor of which museum to visit was the consideration of mediums. The MACM succeeds where the MBAM fails. The MACM exhibits a wide range of mediums, not limited to paintings, sculptures, and photography, predominantly displayed at the MBAM. In restricting its exhibitions to a few selective mediums, the MBAM ignores a wide body of art resulting in the misperception of what belongs in the category of canonical art.  Here, the MACM succeeds in broadening the horizons of what is acceptable as 'art' itself.

In the end Luke and I decided to visit the MBAM. If the mandate of a museum is to teach by display, we wanted to learn all we could about art within a historical aspect. But if the mandate of a museum were simply to create awareness, assign significance, and increase value, we'd rather go to the Darling Foundry.