Evening star., 1961-08-13

yOu pay 1OA tAtC, ,SAOOiAiAooOAOA
over the natural resources of
partly by delivering up your
attention to the pitchmen's
pitch, around which the pro-
grams are built.
In all the arts, there is the 5
rule: you pay to play.
In all except painting and
sculpture, prints and pottery.
There the financing is done
in other ways and nobody,
in Washington at least, would
dream of paying two cents to
look at a picture. It's odd
when you think of it and
the oddness comes to mind
especially right now as the
Corcoran Gallery of Art,
after much storm and stress,
moves with difficulty to ac-
cept a gift of American
twentieth century art worth
at least two million.
CorcOran's Dilemma
You offer two million
dollars woSth of free talent
to the ordinary impressario
of the artS-Sol Hurok, say
and you may lose a finger
in the swiftness Of his ac-
ceptance. But the Corcoran
agonized over the decision, at
first turning down the gift
with profound regret, last
week accepting it with ap-
parent premonitions OF dis
aster.
The reasons are clear. To
Hurok and his peers, big tall
ent means big box office. To
the Corcoran and to other
art museums similarly op-
Grated, big talent means only
big headaches and big ex-
penses in housing and main
tenance. 1t does not mean
big box office because there
isn't any box office.
Why not? At the Corcoran
the reason seems to be the
existence of the National
Gallery of Art. open free to
the public and featuring an
array of talent the Corcoran
can't hope to compete with.
The Corcoran, at any rate,
did charge a modest admis-
sion fee-10 cents-until the
opening of the National.
Could it do so again? Would
it do any good?
Worth the Price
In the first place, there
isn't really any direct COM
petition between art mu-
seums for an audience, The
television statesmen have to
reach you at a given time
, or not at all. But the mu-
scum is always there. II you
90 to the National today,
you can go to the Corcoran
: tomorrow. Moreover, the new
look now scheduled for the
Corcoran will enable it to
, offer something the National
never can, the work of artists
still alive and the work OF
important goth century
Americans. The National, by
its terms of existence, is
anti-live ones. and by its
history is more or less anti
American. It seems unlikely,
then, that prospective visitors
. to. the Corcoran will be
scared off by a small ad-
lAission charge.
. =" The Corcoran now has an
attendance Of well over a
hundred thousand a year.
-+When the biennial is on, the
figure approaches a hundred
and fifty thousand. Multiply
by 10 cents and you answer
= the second question. Multiply
by q quarter and you have
a much more satisfactory
answer. An admission charge.
either to the gallery as a
whole or to the new Ameri-
can rooms presently to be set
up, could help considerably
: in maintaining those rooms.
In General Practice
Actually, despite the Gus
tom in Washington. most Of
the Nations leading mu-
seums do have an admission
charge. The Metropolitan
: does not, but it does charge
;, for special exhibitions, us
ua1ly so cents or rs. Across
;. Fifth avenue, the Guggen-
helm charges so cents and
the customers come in
.throngs never dreamt of
when the Guggenheim was
free. The Museum of Mod
:. ern Art, like the movies. has
. steadily raised its admission
i! charge through the years
and now costs 80 cents.
In New York City, the
Whitney alone is free and
the Whitney, years ago, con-
Quoted an experiment in US
ing admission receipts to pay
> artists rental on pictures ex-
= hibited. The experiment
= didn't work. but it did high
, light the curious position of
: the artist in our economy.
The Art Institute of Chi
cago charges a quarter. with
Monday a free day. One ar
9ument for admission was
summed UP by William Rock