Inside Culture: Art and Class in the American Home
By visiting scores of upper-class, working-class, and middle-class homes in the New York City area and examining the artwork displayed therein, Halle has attempted to understand and explain the complex web of meaning that art has in the setting of the home. His idea that purchasers create meaning in their artworks, subject to some interaction with the dominant world of artists, art critics, and gallery owners, is well worth pursuing. Although his narrow geographical focus and overreliance on statistics can be faulted, the scarcity of studies of the artworld from the perspective of the consumer--rather than the dictates of the cultural elite--recommend the inclusion of this book in collections concerned with art, popular culture, or sociology.- David McClelland, Temple Univ. Lib., PhiladelphiaCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.