First published in 1998, this volume explores the expanding wave of a new kind of museums of contemporary art in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Lorente examines their `coming of age' and the weight of their museological legacy, arguing that the establishment of great national museums of art at London and Paris radiated out, carrying their influence with it. This book emerged as part of a series on towns and cities and has a focus on London and Paris as centres of artistic innovation.