The Tastemakers Book

Define a highbrow : A person who sees a sausage, we're
told in jest, and instantly thinks of Picasso. Pub c 1950,
this consideration of American taste is a dinosaur today;
out-of-date. Its value is historic. The chapter on the 1913
Armory Show is a ripping report. The photos throughout are
revealing. Best chapter, as GR says, is "Highbrow, Lowbrow,
Middlebrow" -- perhaps, cos the author is so middlebrow
himself. He describes movie producers and art dealers as
upper middlebrows. Huhhh? Whoooo? - I assume he's being
ironic when he bows to the pretentious wind chimes of art critic
Clement Greenberg. Author is correct when he observes that
a highbrow is devoid of humor : "He will not tolerate frivolity
where the arts are concerned." Which is why the Greenbergians
fainted when Pop Art exploded in the 60s.

Author neglects movies-tv as shapers of not only American, but
also international taste. Maybe that's another book. The good
stuff here is pre-1920s. He reminds us that Thomas Love
Peacock wrote (1817) : "No gentleman would be so rash as to
have a taste of his own."