我们知道,美国人对欧洲艺术品的搜罗活动奠定了很多美国艺术博物馆的馆藏基础。即使在今天,不少美国博物馆依然是私人艺术机构,它们的捐赠者依然是富有的资产阶级而非国家。如果一座博物馆既是公共的同时又是国家所属的,它必须纪念一种本土的文化遗产。与此相反,倘若一座博物馆是由通过从另外一种文化情境的购藏而移植过来的藏品所构成,那么它在本质上仍然是私人趣味或财富的纪念物。在这一点上,美国学者卡罗尔·邓肯(Carol We know that the Americans laid the foundations of many American art museums for the collection of European artworks. Even today, many American museums are still private art institutions, and their donors are still wealthy bourgeoisie rather than state. If a museum is both public and national, it must honor a native cultural heritage. In contrast, if a museum is made up of collections that have been transplanted from a different cultural context, it remains, in essence, a memorial of personal taste or wealth. At this point, American scholar Carol Duncan (Carol