This paper examines how three major world museums—the Louvre in Paris, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.—employ progressivist philosophy in their modes of display. Progressivism, the belief that societies advance from barbarism toward civilization through scientific, technological, and economic development, serves as an ideological framework that these institutions use to unite diverse publics around shared cultural narratives. While each museum adapts progressivism differently—the Louvre balancing European elitism with multiculturalism, the Pitt Rivers celebrating British imperialism and indigenous cultures, and the Smithsonian highlighting diverse American contributions—all three demonstrate how museums function as vehicles for both cultural theory and nationalist ideology.
The progressivist philosophy of culture posits that advancements in science, technology, and social and economic development are crucial in the development of advanced societies, and that societies advance from a state of barbarism toward a more civilized state. This ideology is evident in the modes of display of some of the most popular museums in the world. The Louvre in Paris, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., use progressivist ideology to promote both cultural theory and nationalism rooted in the belief that their citizens are advancing toward the promise of a better tomorrow. This paper examines how these three institutions employ progressivism in their curatorial practices and public presentation.
As Andrew McClellan states, "the public for art is diverse and divided by interests and levels of knowledge." Appealing to and uniting these diverse interests is what a progressivist museum must do in order to guide its public toward its cultural goal. Thus, one sees in the Louvre a "multicultural" display of artwork that reaches across ethnic boundaries and draws its multicultural public to a single focus under one roof. From its Greek treasures from Rhodes to its classical European masterpieces of painting to its collection of Islamic art and Near-Eastern antiquities, the Louvre offers something for everyone.
While the museum highlights its distinctly Parisian place among the world's stages of cultural elitism—it is in possession of some of the greatest European works of art in the world—it does not dismiss the multicultural aspect of progressivism. Because the culture of Paris is dynamic and changing with the free migration of different ethnicities in the twenty-first century, the museum's progressivist mode of display is as fluctuating and dynamic as the world around it. This approach allows the Louvre to position itself as both guardian of European high culture and a welcoming institution for global artistic traditions.
The sense of progressivism at the Pitt Rivers Museum is distinct from that which Henry Balfour wished to cultivate in 1904, when he "laid plans for what he called a museum of national culture." Here, Balfour understood progressivism as a nationalist movement which viewed the world from a British perspective and identified persons and places in terms of British interests. It was progressive in the sense that it rallied Britons around the celebration of the arts, crafts, ideas, and beliefs of people whose lands had been colonized by the British.
The Pitt Rivers' progressivism represents one part recognition of British achievements and one part preservation of cultures of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and customs. This dual mission—celebrating imperial expansion while simultaneously preserving indigenous cultural artifacts—made the Pitt Rivers progressive in a distinctly British context. The museum thus functioned to justify imperialism while appearing to honor the cultures it displayed, a paradox central to how progressivism operated in colonial contexts.
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., presents a similar display of progressivist thinking with its celebration of a diverse American history. The museum includes highlights of Hispanic-American contributions to American history as well as a major display of African-American history to round out culturally diverse and multiethnic portrayals of American history. These showcases are coupled with displays of American inventiveness and depictions of the evolution of technological invention, such as the Alexander Graham Bell display.
Thus, one finds at the Smithsonian a progressivist representation of art, ethnicity, and nationhood that unites the different elements of a diverse public under one cultural roof. By presenting various ethnic contributions alongside technological progress, the Smithsonian creates a narrative in which American advancement is inseparable from its multicultural composition. This approach legitimizes both nationalist pride and multicultural inclusion within a single, coherent progressive framework.
The three popular museums of the Louvre, the Pitt Rivers, and the Smithsonian each represent progressivist ideals in their various displays. The Louvre celebrates its European elitism as well as its multicultural sensitivity. The Pitt Rivers celebrates British imperialism while promoting indigenous works. The Smithsonian mines the various ethnicities and cultures that contributed to American history and displays each one's art and beliefs in a spirit of unity under the American ideal of freedom. Across these three institutions, progressivism functions not as a neutral framework for historical or cultural display, but as an ideological tool that legitimizes national projects—whether European cultural dominance, British imperial expansion, or American multicultural nationalism—by presenting them as natural stages in the advancement of civilization.
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