Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-12
ART IN EDUCATION
SIR PURDoN CLARKE AT A
ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM.
Points Out How the Metropolitan
Museum May Develop as an Edu-
cational Center.

NEW YORK, December 12.-Sir Caspar
Purdon Clarke. director Of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art: Frederick Dieiman ana
Prof. Walter 8. Perry were the three prin-
cipal contributors last night to sympo-
ctum before The Round Table" at the
Teachers College. the subject being The
Educational Function of the Museum"
Sir Purdon sketched the history of the
museums OF England and the popular edu-
cation In art in that country, and outlined
some plans he had in view to increase the
usefulness of the Metropolitan Museum.
If attendance means anything art is dis
tinctly on the up grade on Morningside
Heights. for the audience that listened to
the director Of the museum damned the
auditorium. sat in the aisles and on the
steps and overf1owed into the corridors.
Sir Purdon said that practically all OF
England's effort to educate the people in
half century. the decade from 10 to 1860
being one of the greatest growth He de-
scribed the almost accidental origin Of the
South kensington Museum and told how
1t had aimed to cover the field of GER
tain kind OF medieval art that had been
neglected.
Good Work Of Museums.
He told how the crafts had arranged
themselves practically so as to complement
the work of the English museums, describ-
ing the system by which small collections
were sent out to every part of the country
; for study and observation, and added that
1t ought to be possible to do something like
that in the United States and SO extend
very widely the beneficient influence Of
the Metropolitan Museum.
Sir Purdon declared that especially good
work had been done in two directions by
our museum. One was the collection of
stone work from Cyprus that Gen. di
q hrnYy n 10
which excefled any similar collection in any
other museum: The other was the collec-
ton of pictures.
There are tastes in pictures" said Sir
Purdon, lat least that Is my opinion.
though some say that there Is no such
thing as taste, but only right and wrong.
Still, I think that there are pictures that
are almost right, but not quite, and pic
lures that are wrong, but not all wrong,
and what has been regarded in one age as
all right has come to be thought all wrong
In another age. Our gallery at the Metro
politan Museum Is, on the whole, good. TO
be sure, there are some pictures that We
should be better off without, but fear of
what might be offered in their place gives
us pause.
Changes in Art Taste. =,
81 have seen two distinct changes pass
over the world OF art. I was brought up
to admire the work of certain group of
painters. but today only two or three of
tiidt STOup Stul are TeSdrueU rs dUHlrdDlc
There's lesson to be learned from this
and. learning this lesson. I hope to be able
to extend our gallery so that it shall show
the best of each period"
Sir Purdon UNDERSIGNED the Importance of
having an excellent library of reference
where it could easily be condulted by visit
ors to the museum. He also told Of some
plans under way for the reproduction at the
museum of certain historical periods, so
far as details of pottery. metal work. tex
tiles. glass and so on were concerned.
Thus, for example, 1t would be possible to
observe many of the details of life which
surrounded the daily existence of the Ger
man feudal barons.
Frederick Dfelman, president of the Ma
tional Academy of Design, said that he
was glad to observe among those present a
spirit that showed that they did not re-
gard the evenings exercises as Of the ma
ture Of a wake.