New-York tribune., 1906-04-22

ohe OF MS nudes from NJ. Groult, and In the same
circumstances we should be bound accept so
eAoeiieht an example OF him the we have
bought But the case of Etty reminds OF the
french critic. mentioned somewhere by Matthew
Arnold who met depreciation of the writings Of
one OF his countrymen by saying, He is impor-
tant to u.s." To the English. whose desire TO
make the best Of every historic member OF the
English school is amiability easily understood
hety is important An American museum. so much
IN need Of the works OF many other more sig
hncant painters, is scarcely justified in going
OF Its way TO spend money on him. The lesson
enforced by this episode. and by the presence Of
such middling old masters the Van Goyen we
have noted, or the large st john by Murilo. is
that 1t would be well to make haste slowly. The
amplitude of the Rogers Fund should not tempt TO
the purchase Of pictures which twenty years from
now. might easily. by sheer force Of contrast with
better things accumulated. be reIegated TO the
darker corners.
This thought of the future brings us round to
matter of peculiar meaning In the present We
refer to the whole question of hanging and for
that matter of the disposition OF all OF the Mu-
seum's possessions. II there is thing than
another which piles up difficulties before the d.
rector and his assistants It is the heterogeneous
condition of the collections and in their efforts to
reduce their chaos to order they command the full
est public sympathy and support We can imagine
that nothing would be pleasing TO Sir Purdon
Clarke than authority TO empty the Museum and
then refill it with it's present contents, omitting
much and retnstailing what he retained according
10 system 1t is nobody's fault that certain
elements in the situation practically unchange
able The status of this or that collection be-
queathed to the Museum under specific conditions
as to separate installation has been legally fixed.
and it is useless TO repne. But the future is ours,
and Mr. George A. Hearn is TO be generously hon
ored for the example he has set in making the
conditions accompanying his recent gifts of old
masters, modern American pictures and money as
elastic as possible. We now, in the confused
OF the picture collections especially, how i'm
portant 1t is for growing museum to have free
hand in the arrangement of its works Of art A
miscellaneous array of paintings can be made at
tractive when it is formed for special purpose as
has been shown in the new gallery to which we
have already alluded. There a number Of the best
things in the Museum have been concentrated, and
with the aid OF few borrowed pictures, like MI
Frick's Titan. the Metropolitan does. in a small
way what has been done in the Salon Carre of the
Louvre and the Tribuna Of the Uflzi The pict-
tres have been well hung against favorable back
ground, the Brauantinos over the doorways give
a charming touch TO the ensemble and save that
the woodwork has been unfortunately covered with
heavy olive paint, the whole scheme promises to
envelop the visitor in a stimulating atmosphere.
But the bulk OF the Museums paintings are but
poorly classified and they will never appear to
proper advantage until they have been grouped
according to schools and periods, with each artist
occupying given space by himself.
will have result especially gratifying to the
American artist. One OF the best features Of the
directors policy is his determination in
cude native painting and sculpture more and more
In the scope Of the Museum. The soundness Of
this policy goes without saying. We have no
Luxembourg TO serve a halfway house between
the studio OF the artist and greatest Museum
II would be sheer provineialism TO open the doors
OF the Metropolitan to the living moderns of Eu-
rope and 10 close them TO men If Dag
nan-B -Bouveret's Madonna of the Rose could be
bought out OF the Wolfe Fund. done the
other day without rnperilling the Museums stand
ard. the works. OF certain living Americans can
safely be purchased. The director realizes this
and the Museum starts with considerable
number of American pictures very recently in
creased by the gift of twelve fifteen from Mr..
Hearn. several miscellaneous donations and the
purchase of landscape by ". NJ. Hunt out of the
Rogers Fund the creation OF really representative
collection seems only a matter of time.
The outlook, then. AT the Museum ia decidedly
auspicious. II is to have great addition
made to it's building its material affairs pros
porous and the hands OF the director and HIS staff
are upheld by a board of trustees whose only aim
is to make the Museum honor the city. The
figures Of attendance show that the public large
follows the fortunes OF the institution with keen
interest and the best of good will r. c.