Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-01-15
By j. G. X. HILLS

This evening at 8 o'clock citizens
of Montclair and notable personages
from surrounding cities. including the
metropolis will assemble at the for
NAL opening of the new Montclair
Art Museum, built for and through
the efforts of the members Of the
Montclair Art Association.
The occasion is of particular inter
est in Newark. The people of this city
will rejoice with the sister town and
perhaps, also, mourn that, in spite
of the efforts of men here, farsighted
and generous, there has not been
sufficient public spirit even to start
the erection of a museum worthy of a
municipality famed for its progress
in a more material direction.
visited the Montclair museum
yesterday, and met there William
Copper, the well-known sculptor, a
resident of Montclair. He gave an
insight into the way in which the
museum was made possible when he
pointed to the thoroughfare skirting
the gently-rising knoll on which the
building stands, and said:
"In that street, but few feet away,
lives a very wealthy man. He had
not yet yielded to the pleas of his
friends to aid our project. / called
upon him and pointed out to him the
utility of such an institution, even
from sordid viewpoint. I told him
of the gratitude of posterity in this
beautiful town when they should see
the full fruition of the movement
which We have started. I told him
that we had long sacrificed to the
gods of commerce and trade and that
the time had come when the muses.
should be propitiated."
and did your argument prevail?"
I asked.
mot yet" said the sculptor, a rath-
er sad expression coming into his
soulful eyes, "but there is still time,
and If 1 did not move his heart 1
did that of many others equally as
wealthy and far more amenable to
the logic of public policy"
Mr.. Copper, indeed. seemed to be
the genius loci of the museum. Miss
Helen Kent Taylor is the curator. The
authorities of the museum express
their gratitude for her untiring eff
forts. Yesterday, overwhelmed with
preparations for the great event to-
night, she was still complaisant
enough to permit the Evening Star
photographer to take pictures of the
art treasures of the museum which
will be published In this newspaper at
later date. They will then also be
described more at length than is pos
sible now.
Stirs Civic Pride.
The museum itself must first strike
the visitor as a structure which would
stir civic pride in any city. 1t is
purely classic in design, and though
its facade Is still unfinished, it is suf-
ficiently advanced to impress the crit
lie profoundly. It is beautifully stu
ated, rising on a knoll, as I have said,
and suggesting in some degree a
Greek temple of the golden age. Seen
under the clear, wonderful sky of a
matchless January day. it seemed,
indeed, as If the spirit of the god Pan
lowered over it and pledged for it
ages of life and progress.
Facing the building is a statue of
bronze, 1.-THE Sun Vow" the work of
Herman st. K. Mcneil, which, like
so many of the paintings in the mu-
scum, was presented by the distin-
guished art connoisseur, William T.
Evans. This statue is an inspiration
of the imagination expressed in
bronze that cannot but appeal to
every observer. 1t is conceived with