Martin Gayford

From temple to labyrinth — the art museum today

Charles Saumarez Smith guides us round some of the world’s most spectacular modern galleries and discusses what ought to go on display

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, designed by SANAA. Credit: SANAA 
issue 10 April 2021

At a certain point, the critic Robert Hughes once noted, at the heart of American cities churches began to be replaced by museums. Much the same occurred elsewhere in the world in the later 20th and early 21st centuries. Museums have sprouted from the earth in many diverse forms and numerous places.

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