The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-19

permanently after sept !. The remark Of
Mr. De Forest wa made in Sir Purdon q
presence. and he did not deny It., but he
was himself very guarded in his statements
concerning the matter. He is still an
officer Of the English Government, and
nation ls formally accepted by the Govern
ment.
Even now some OF the English papers,
even conservative publication like the
Manchester Guardian, are calling upon the
Ministry to explain why man of Sir Pur-
don's great ability and accomplishments
should be induced by Mr.. Morgan TO leave
a post at the head OF British institution.
Sir Purdon has intimated TO the Govern
ment, he said, desire to leave and he raised
no objection to a further statement by
Mr.. De Forest 10 the effect that 1t was un-
derstood that his resignation would be ac-
cepted and that he would devote the re-
mainder Of his active years TO the task
Of developing the Metropolitan Museum
The South Kensington Museum, with
which Sir Purdon has been connected for
twenty years, was founded in 1850 under the
patronage of Prince Albert In the early
'40s British art, according TO Sir Purdon,
was in n most deplorable condition. Prince
Albert saw II and evolved the School Of
Design out of the old weavers school The
School OF Design was conducted In con-
neotion with the museum and the finest
works OF art In Europe were brought there
10 be analy2ed and lectured upon. In
1851 under Prince Albert's encouragement
the first great international art exhibition
had been held In London, and English
artists made n sorry showing II was
most unfortunate that Prince Albert died
before the next exhibition, In 1902. for then
English artists more than compensated
for their failure of the preceding decade.
The museum and the School of Design
worked together in developing the manu-
&c - ~ and terh at ErHt
there were failures. the subsequent sue
cess Of manufacturers was phenomenaly
great,
In the South Kensington Museum. "a
everywhere, spurious works of art have
crept in. creations artistically beautiful.
but nevertheless copies rather than origi-
nails II has been one of the chief cares
of Sir Purdon as director, TO separate all
works of art OF doubtful authenticity and
place them, properly labelled, by themselves.
Sir Purdon explains the great difficulty OF
this work
An object, he says, may be half genuine
and half a copy with the copy so nearly
perfect "a TO puzzle the most expert, In
chalioe, for instance, the bowl may DO
original and the remainder copied 1t Is
animation. II will be his duty. Sir Purdon
says, to make a rigorous inspection and
close examination of the various works
OF art of all kinds In the Metropolitan
Museum and separate from the real the
false, il any there be.
In England the School OF Design is a
government institution and pupils are paid
10 take courses Of study in t. For the
reasons above noted, Sir Purdon will not
attempt 10 establish such an institution
in connection with the Metropolitan
Museum. In every other particular, how
ever, it Is believed that the new director
will make use Of the principles and prac-
tees employed by him with such signal
success from both artistic and commercial
viewpoints In England.