[Report of the Fogg Art Museum, 1911-12]

The President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeHarvard Art Museum

[Report of the Fogg Art Museum, 1911-12]Author(s): Edward W. ForbesSource: Annual Report (Fogg Art Museum), No. 1911/1912 (1911 - 1912), pp. 1-4Published by: The President and Fellows of Harvard College on behalf of the Harvard Art MuseumStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4301199 .

Accessed: 22/05/2014 13:47

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The President and Fellows of Harvard College and Harvard Art Museum are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Annual Report (Fogg Art Museum).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.126 on Thu, 22 May 2014 13:47:52 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pfhc

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=huam

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4301199?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


THE FOGG ART MUSEUM

To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY: -

SIR, - I have the honor to present the following report on the Fogg Art Museum for the year 1911-12.

This year the following works of art have been received as gifts: from Alfred Atmore Pope, Esq., of Farmington, Conn., a Tondo of the late Italian school, representing the Adoration of the Shep- herds; from Paul J. Sachs, of the Class of 1900, 12 etchings by Herman A. Webster, which complete the collection of Webster's work to date, 11 lithographs by Joseph Pennell, 6 lithographs by Alexandre Calame, and 1 etching by Jules Ferdinand Jacquemart; from the Misses Norton, 38 objects, including Greek vases, terra- cottas, etc.; from the estate of the Rev. Edward H. Hall, of the Class of 1851, 4 small drawings and 2 portions of pages of a Choral; and from R. Ederheimer, the Holy Family, an engraving by Albrecht Altdorfer.

Five prints have been added to the Gray Collection by purchase: The Adoration of the Magi and S. Thomas, engravings by Martin Schongauer; Dumbarton Rock, Leader Sea-Piece, and Morpeth, etchings from the series of Turner's Liber Studiorum. Three prints have been purchased for the Randall Collection, namely: The Climbers, engraving by Marcantonio after Michelangelo (this reproduces a portion of the famous cartoon of the " Battle with the Pisans," which was executed by Michelangelo in prepara- tion for his proposed fresco in the Council Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio; the fresco was never painted, the cartoon disappeared, and the print by Marcantonio is one of the few remaining traces of this work of genius); a fine impression of the Judgment of Paris, also by Marcantonio, after Raphael; and Holy Island Cathedral, etching by Turner for the Liber Studiorum.

The Museum has received the following objects as loans: a Tondo, representing the Mystic Marriage of S. Catherine, which was formerly attributed to Filippino Lippi, but now is thought to be by Raffaelino di Carli, lent by Mrs. Francis P. Nash; a Madonna and Child with Angels, by Sano di Pietro, a water-color painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, called " Before the Battle," a Venetian Scene by Francesco Guardi, and a Risen Christ by William Blake,

1



2

all lent by the Misses Norton; a Madonna and Child of the Floren- tine school, a Madonna and Child of the Venetian school, and an Annunciation attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani, lent by Hervey E. Wetzel, of the Class of 1911; a German painting of the sixteenth century, representing the weighing of a human soul by three saints, and an early Flemish copy of Michelangelo's Holy Family, lent by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; an oil marine by Daubigny, lent by Mrs. Warren K. Blodgett; and 13 Diurer prints, lent by Francis Bullard, of the Class of 1886, for the exhibition of early German engraving.

In March, 1912, the exhibition of nineteenth century etchings in the Print Room was replaced by an exhibition of the works of the fifteenth century German engravers and lDiurer.

The photograph department has received as gifts 85 photographs from Mr. Bernhard Berenson, 263 from the Haynes bequest to the Classical Department, and 6 from other sources, making a total of 354. 121 photographs were purchased, so that the photograph collection at present numbers 43,783. 313 photographs have been catalogued during the year, and in the department of Italian painting approximately 1,540 photographs have been revised.

The slide collection has received as gifts 20 slides from Miss louise Nichols, 21 slides from Professor C. H. Moore, and 57 slides from Mr. E. W. Forbes. 229 slides were purchased for the collection, most of which were of Spanish architecture. The slide collection now numbers 5,110. During the year 327 slides have been catalogued.

The library of the Museum has received 11 volumes as gifts, and 66 volumes were purchased. Of the whole number, 4 were gallery catalogues, and 16 were for students' use.

1r uring the year photographs have teen lent 141 times to various memlers of the University, and occasionally to outside individ- uals. In the same manner, slides were lent 276 times. The sum of $31.34 has been received from the sale of catalogues, photographs, and post-cards during the year, and $11.56 for outside work.

The total number of prints catalogued was 915, of which 5 belong to the Gray Collection, 880 to the Randall Collection, and 30 to the Museum Collection. The number of visits to the print department made by outsiders was 69.

At the suggestion of Professor James H. Ropes, Dean in charge of University Extension, the Fogg Museum bought a set of thirty



Greek slides and a set of thirty-three Roman slides. Notices were sent to all the high schools and some of the private schools in Massachusetts, asking if they would like to have these slides as loans, for use in the schoolroom. A number of schools were interested, and, although the plan was not started until March, the slides were actually sent to twenty schools. Several of the principals expressed enthusiasm in the plan, and were much pleased to receive the slides. The success of the start which was made last year makes it probable that in the future this work can be done on a larger scale.

The need of improvement in the Fogg Museum building has teen apparent for many years, and has been referred to more than once in the Director's reports. The Committee on the Fogg Museum and members of the Fine Arts Department have been studying this problem for some time. At last a solution has been discovered which seems to offer hopes of great improvement in the building. The generous gift of $9,000 from Mr. Alfred Atmore Pope, of Farmington, Connecticut, has made it possible to effect the desired changes on the ground floor. About one-half of the money needed for alterations on the second story has been raised, but about $10,000 is still needed to complete the proposed im- proverments in the building. It is hoped that this money may be raised in timre to do the rest of the work next summer; that is, to increase the number of skylights, to raise the ones already in existence, to get more windows, and make some changes in the interior walls which will give more light and air in the whole upper floor, including the main galleries, administration and photograph rooms, and the print room.

The work which Mr. Pope's generosity has enabled us to carry on was started during the summer months, and will be completed on or atout the first of November. The most important change is in the large lecture hall. A semi-circular wall has been built, dividing this room into two parts, - a lecture hall, capable of holding ahout 205 people, with a raised platform at the back suitable for the exhibition of large casts; and a semi-circular corridor outside the lecture room, for the exhibition of other casts. This will add materially to the exhibition space in the Museum, and will make it possible to separate the casts and the original works of art. The lecture hall will be smaller and more useful than before for classes of the size of the courses in fine arts. Cer- tain changes also have been made in the small rooms on either side of the main entrance hall. Plaster belts and cornices have



4

been removed, one door and one recess have been filled in with plaster, and one other door reduced in size, thus increasing the wall space available for exhibition. Two of these rooms cannot be used for Museum purposes for a year or two, because the fine arts books belonging to the College Library are at present housed in them. Radical changes have been made in the system of keeping the semi-circular part of the building water tight. The gutters have been altered, and in one part the porous stone has been painted in such a way that the painting is scarcely noticeable, and it is hoped that it will leak no more. We trust that next year the rest of the building may be made waterproof. Thus the Fogg Museum has been much improved, and its usefulness should increase.

EDWARD W. FORBES, Director.



Documents

[Report of the Fogg Art Museum, 1911-12]