The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-17
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dolIafa, even Springfield, Mass tha prc,ai
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~isrd fpr rfrenihR 10 p%lutnSRs . M h~ycnd
Ia custom
10 speak plainly ths city ~ Springfield,
Mas, has ona ~ the most bsautlfui Get
MUSEUMS In tho country, n contains a
gem ~ a collection Witch could not bs
replaced for tsg no, II haa an art library
Of i,b00 volumes -faany ~ titsm rare works
- treasure which alone makes u remark.
Ahlo among cities ~ IL siNe.
Tho whole thing IN n charm. a surpriae A.,
revelation 90 the stranger. The writer
will never forget ttss pleasure 81 discover
Ing II in a green and quiet retreat, ecarcely
fifty steps from ono % the main streets,
yet held In the shadow Of great elm trees
and Of q protecting and almost unbroken
embraces Of private estates shutting cut
noise and dust and traflc.
Here In this beautiful setting the jewel
boz, itself a gem, actually surprises with
its beauty. The man who IL responsible
for the manner OF its making lie George
Walter Vincent Smith. whose collection IL
encloses.
Il did not want the building to be merely
o shed 10 keep put the weather. no says.
Il wanted II TO DO a jewel boz worthy Of
holding beautiful things.'
He worked with the architects to make
II answer this description, and the build
ing IL a monument to their success. As
q matter OF fact, q person familiar with
the average art collections Of cities like
Springfield feels like turning away from
this building without even passing through
the doors, he is 90 sure that there will be
nothing inside that will fulfil the promise
Of the exterior.
1t would be O mighty mistake II he
did. The collection which Mr.. Smith
has BEEN gathering during the past fifty
years has been called the most remarkable
one man collection in the country. Not
that 1t is the largest or the most valuable;
but that from one point Of view It Is the most
catholic and from another point of view
the most single in purpose.
1t Is the most catholic because IL en-
braces specimens OF 30 many Of the arts;
and 1t Is single in purpose because II has
been formed with but one aim-to gather
together things Of beauty. II a thing
has historical interest or scientific value
20 much the better, but that alone would
not be enough. Above all things 1t must
be beautiful.
Mr.. Smith, with the help Of one assistant,
arranged and installed the entire collection,
which fills eight galleries. It includes
what is said to be the largest collection Of
cloisonne enamels In this country. At
present there are 1913 pieces In the Spring
field museum, Boston has only about
thirty pieces and the Metropolitan, until
recently, had even q smaller number.
The arrangement Of the Smith collection
is one Of the most striking things about it.
It Is the result Of the collectors own expe-
~riences in visiting other museums.
Connoisseur and art lover though he is,
he admits that there Is nothing on earth
much more ~fatiguing than visiting museums.
II II wore him out, what would 1t do to the
ordinary individual who cared little and knew
less about such things?
He determined to beguile people into
enjoying his collection. In order to &C
complish this he threw over the accepted
idea Of chronological arrangement. That
Is convenient for the student, but students of
carving, and OF enamelling, Of damaskeening
and Of rug making would doubtless be
decidedly rare in Sprin gfield, Mass. Mr..
Smith decided therefore to provide instead
for the common everyday individual who
~straggles aimlessly into every free institu-
ton and generally-when 1t happens to be a
museum-straggles out again a sadder,
but not wiser, man.
He arranged his treasures so as to provide
q series OF surprises. 1t is an old story that
you can't eat quail by focks, or drink
champaign by gallons, or assimilate &
by the crate. Yet in museums we are ex-
pected to gloat over rods and rods Of ivory
carvings and to prance with undated
enthusiasm among acres Of unrelieved tear
bottles or copper cents or brass bugs.
At Springfield things are different. In
the came room one finds stunning armor,
rugs, cloisonne and masterpieces Of East
Indian arms. There is no effect Of hodge.
podge, either.
Evidently an immense amount OF time and
thought has been devoted to the grouping
of things. The result is that the interest
really is continually quiokened and the
museum becomes enjoyable, not merely
edifying.
Another remarkable thing about the COL
lection Ia that it has never been weeded out,
and yet there seems to be no waste in it, at
least not outside the pictures. Mr.. Smith
has never voluntarily disposed Of a single
article in his collection.
Years ago he was leased, as he says, into
parting with a few rugs, but he has always
regretted it. This seems to be pretty good
testimony as to the standard of selection,
that is, that a thing must be beautiful.
The collection il especially rich in speci-
mems Of Oriental art. On the exterior Of the
building appear in bronze the rames Of
over fifty artists and artisans famous in the
worlds history. Among these are the
names Of Japanese and Chinese artists. 1t
is said that this is the first time Oriental
genius has been thus honored in America,
and probably the first time anywhere out
sids the Orient itself.
The long gallery devoted to the art library
il lighted by twenty-cight loaded windows,
each containing a reproduction IN glass Of
the booklnarks used by the old printers of
the fifteenth and sixteenth century. There
L. q Lao q and collection NJ naatS