New-York tribune., 1920-02-22
-. The American Academy in Rome -.
Charles B. McKim. The interests of
architecture were closest to his heart
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Charles B. McKim. The interests of
architecture were closest to his heart
when he launched his great idea. But
consider the names Of the founders
who wers associated with McKim, the
late j. Pierpont Morgan. the late Henry
Frick. William X. Vanderbilt, the pres
ent j. P. Morgan. Henry Walters and
harvard University. The list signifies
interests not purely architectural. We
have noted the inclusion of painters
and sculptors. types Of artists for
whom McKim labored as he labored for
architects. and, what is more, the pro-
posed enlargement of policy cited above
is perfectly in line with his central
motive. That was a broadly cultural
motive pure and simple. The scheme,
in nutshell, as McKim saw it. we
would describe as involving just the
enrichment of the Imagination of the
American artist. The point seems
sometimes to demand strong emphasis.
There are perverse critics of the Amer
lean Academy in Rome, especially advo-
Gates OF such architectural instruction
as is provided by the Ecole des Beaux-
Arts, who would cloud the issue by i'm
plying that the Academy is a source of
reaction, teaching a spccious depend
ence upon Roman precedence. The
Academy, of course, teaches nothing of
the sort. Strictly speaking, it could
hardly be said to "teach" ANYTHING.
What it aims to do is, rather, to place
artists and scholars of talent in an
environment where the riches of the
classical past may fertlize their minds.
stir their imaginations, purify their
taste and altogether imbed in their ar
tlstlc characters a steadying influence
whose virtue could no more be denied
by an intelligent person than the in
tegrity of the multiplication table.
The present campaign, in short, is a
campaign dedicated disinterestedly to
nothing more nor less than the things
of the mind. This is the point of view
taken by the presidents Of Yale, Prince
ton, Columbia and Harvard universi-
ties, who sign four whole hearted let
tcrs Of approval. printed in the PAM
rhlet aforesaid. 1t is the point of view
held by Dean West, of Princeton, who
speaks for the School of Classical
Studies; of Mr.. Ferruccio Vitale, who
speaks for landscape architecture; of
Professor W. R. Spading, Of Harvard
who speaks for musical composition.
1t is maintained, too, with eloquence,
by Mr.. c. Grant Lafarge, secretary of
the Academy, who in an essay COM
pacted of both enthusiasm and solid
information traverse5 the history of
the Academy and rehearses the infinite
charms of the city, the whole country,
placed at the service Of the students
on the. Janiculum. He says, conclud-
ing:
"Why Rome? Because ell this un-
counted wealth, this .endless store
heaped up by the hands, the passions
and the minds of all that long process
sion of the generations; this still un-
diminished fountain men call Italy
all this belongs to no one people, to no
group nor class nor nation. 1t is yours
and it is mine; it is there for all who
would seek. But it will not, may not,
come to US; it must be sought, sought
in the land of its making And the
center Of all that land, it's focus and
its very heart, is Rome" 1t is for the
opportunity indicated in this passage
that the student seeking q fellowship
N the Academy competes. Before he
can compete he must have been we'll
grounded in the rudiments of his art.
If he wins his fellowship lie does not
go to Rome to learn how to set
palette or to draw plan. He must
know how to model, or he must have
been initiated into the mysteries of
counterpoint, before he goes. When he
goes it is to take a kind of post-gradu-
ate course, to exercise his technique