Concerts in the Museum: 1920Author(s): Morris GraySource: Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 107 (Jun., 1920), p. 25Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4169738 .

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Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin Published bi-monthly by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

Subscription price, 50 cents per year postpaid. Single copies, 10 cents; after a year, 20 cents

VOL. XVIII JUNE, 1920 No. 107

Concerts in the Museum 1920

A T a special meeting held February 26, 1920, the Trustees adopted the recommendation of the ) President that concerts, few in number, but of a high order, be given in the Museum during the year, and they appointed a committee to take charge of this matter.

The concerts are free, no admission fee being charged. Two were given in the spring,-one on the evening of April 1 3 by musicians selected from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Agide Jacchia; the other on the evening of May 1 by the Harvard Glee Club under the leadership of Dr. Davison. The performers stationed themselves in the Tapestry Gallery on the first evening and in the Rotunda on the second, in order to try cut where performances should be given in order to reach best a large audience in the various nearby exhibition rooms and corridors. While the performances could not be satisfactorily heard in the most outlying places, they were heard well in the others. Perhaps a still better place will be found by further experiment.

The Trustees feel that they have no right to appropriate for concerts funds which they have received for the purposes for which they were incorporated, namely, for the acquisition and exhibition of works of art and for education in the fine arts. They feel that they can use only funds received for the specific object. They have been fortunate in obtaining a large part of what is necessary for this year from people who believe in the wisdom of the policy.

The policy of having concerts has, of course, its critics and antagonists, but on the whole seems to be very generally approved. Certainly the Trustees were greatly surprised and gratified at the attend- ance: over 2,000 at the first performance and over 2,800 at the second. With the large building, with the environment of the works of art hanging on the walls, and with the informality of the seating, the Trustees hope that they are in a position where they can render an additional and individual service to the public without corresponding expense, and perhaps also awaken a larger interest in the exhibitions.

MORRiS GRAY.

The Educational Year 1919-1920

THE educational work carried on in the Museum during the past winter has moved

along the usual lines. The emphasis, as always, has been laid upon an appreciation of the aesthetic value of the object shown.

The average visitor - indeed, almost every visitor desires information, names, dates and details of

technical processes, or ancedotes of painter, sculptor or craftsman. This is, of course, natural and may in time lead to an appreciation of the thing itself. The man who sits before a work of art, absorbed in contemplation, regardless of anything save the artistic content of the object before him, is, indeed, rare in these days of the aeroplane, the "wireless" and the "movie." The best that can be done is to satisfy the craving for knowledge and trust that, by means of subtly dropped hints, appreciation may follow.

Details concerning the Conferences, of which there were fifteen, the Sunday talks and the week- day guidance, are given in the Annual Report of the Museum. Mr. Charles Hopkinson again laid

the Museum under a debt of gratitude by repeating the four talks on "Processes of Painting" which he gave last year. Miss Millet continues her guidance of enlisted men. Mrs. Scales, the Museum Instructor, has carried her work into the schools with marked success. Miss Alice J. Morse was asked to con- duct a Saturday Design Class, a new development which has filled a long-felt want. The High School Vocational Drawing Class has completed its sixth successful year. Freed from the pressure of war activities, groups from Women's Clubs have in gratifying numbers asked for series of talks in the different departments.

The School of the Museum, sharing in the rebound from war-time conditions, has greatly increased in size: the number of students, 262, overtaxing the limited space in the present building and emphasizing the wisdom of the plea made by the Director in his annual report, that a large and adequate structure be erected in order that the use- fulness of the Museum in this branch of its educa- tional and cultural work may be developed to its fullest extent, H. E.

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