Introduction

This introduction explores the “new museum idea” which developed at the turn of the century in Europe and the US alongside debates about cultural democracy and the growing professionalisation of museum work. It proposes a historical examination of democratisation in the context of the twentieth-century art museum, a so far underexamined precedent to later democratising currents in the museum. The chapter focuses on Philip Hendy as a key participant in these debates, outlining how his thinking, like that of many museum workers, evolved in relation to fundamental paradigm shifts in museum discourse in favour of a more outward orientation towards visitors.