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(Like a number of exhibits in the show, these paintings are almost certainly descendants of an earlier work--in this case, Hubert Robert's illustrious 1796 portrait of the Louvre's Grande Galerie in ruins. Crucial to the exhibition are works that reveal how artists have interrogated and challenged the museum's political, bureaucratic, and corporate dynamics. Hans Haacke's text-based installation Seurat's "Les Poseuses" (small version), 1888-1975 (1975), presents a detailed history of this work's provenance. The art collective General Idea, for its part, has created a museum shop with a sales counter in the shape of a dollar sign, while Jac Leirner has made a wall piece with a collection of shopping bags from museums around the world. This thread is also taken up in the selection of artists' writings in the exhibition catalogue. |