Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-03-23

| not only a place for education of the
| people. but through it's system of exs
pert curatorships has special facili,
! ties for the training of artists and de-
! signers, has long been apparent to
the committee in charge. The ambi-
ton of the director and his assistants
is to make this an absolutely safe mu-
! scum for the art student. Among lay
men one hears frequently the asser-
tion that the newly bought Philip "
is a mighty good looking picture any
way, whether it is to be regarded as
the work of a particular master or
not. Obviously, however, for the
student of painting to whom study OF
the style of the great painters as well
as of nature is so essential the ques-
| ton of correct attribution is vital.
! There is affiliated with the museum
the school Of the museum OF fine arts.
to which young men and women come
| from every part of the country TO get
the instruction of such artists as Mr.
Frank w. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbel
! and Philip Hale; and one of the lead
ing attractions OF this Boston art
school is unquestionably the fact that
much of the work is done right in
the museum amongst its invaluable
treasures and esthCtic associations
c. Howard Walker, the well-known
architect who is also director OF the
school, says that according to his
experience nowhere else do young
people studying painting, drawing or
design make so direct and practical
use of the collections Of an art
museum as here where they virtually
live among them.
The richness of the treasures that
are being gathered in this as in sew
eral other American museums is such
that artists are coming more and
more to realize the needlessness OF
sending students to Europe for the
sake of the influence of the art OF
ancients. Antiquity is coming here
Very lately, for example, there have
been added from the field of eXcava-
! tons in Greece works which have
| added greatly to the fame of the Bos-
! ton museum as repository of con,
| siderable share Of the worlds best
art. Two objects of exceptional i'm
portanCe will bear mentioning. One
of these is a mead of Homer which
| originally belonged to a private art
| collection in England and which was
shown at the exhibition of the Bur
lington Fine Arts club in London in
I 1908, that being its only public APP
pearance before it was sold to the
museum in Boston. 1t represents a
curious combination OF idealism and
| realism that is characteristic of the
Hellenistic period, following the
| death of Alexander the great 1923 B.
G. AS a companion piece there has
been acquired a colossal head OF
Zeus found on the site of Mylasa in
the southwestern part of Asia Minor
near Halikarnasos, a copy, it is said
and the only one in existence so far
as is known, of Pheidias great statue
of Olympian Zeus.
Impressive in its ensemble and in
all its details is the great Bartlett col
lection OF Greek antiquities which
was given to the museum little over
u year ago and which has now been
completely installed-a gathering OF
1903 objects brought together by
Francis Bartlett OF Boston including
az exquisite head OF Aphrodite in
| Parian marble, one of the loveliest OF
all known representations of the god
dess; a fragment of mounted
Amazon of the early Attic school: a
goddess riding upon a swan and other
original sculptures OF marked excel
lence. The advantage to the art stu
dents In their drawing from the an,
tique of being able to work from a
considerable body of originals as we'll
as from plaster casts is well appre-
ciated by artists; and the studies OF
the antique classes OF the Museum
school are carried on in the galleries
of the museum.
Acquisitions of the past rev months
in the department of paintings tell
similar story. Besides the Velas-
| Quez just spoken of there have been
! lately acquired two paintings by Rem
| brandt one a portrait of an old man
! supposed to be his father, Hartman
! Gerritsz Van Rim. 1t was acquired
in England by the artist Walter Gay
from a mansion in Worcestershire,
and the eminent Dutch critic De
! Groot says OF it, ut is an early work
by Rembrandt of very fine quality
and Of excellent preservation" Near
4 by hangs the Danae. formerly owned
! by Francis Brooks, Of Boston who
purchased it in Paris in 1854. Signed
and dated Rembrandt, 1862" 1t rep
resents Mercury as the messenger of
love. with wand and winged hat and
feet kneeling and offering a bag or
! gold to the blushing Danae Still an
other picture of special Importance
to art students is the Death OF the
j Virgin by Michael Wohlgemuth.
which was given 10 the museum a
short time ago.
Such treasures. together with late
i accessions to the textile department,