Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a ... · Fourth, in line with Wetzel’s...

Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a Collection

An Exhibition Proposal

Bruce Williams

A Capstone in the Field of Museum Studies

for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies

Harvard University

Extension School

May 2016

i

Table of Contents

List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. ii

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Background of Topic .................................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 25

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 27

Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 107

Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 110

ii

List of Figures

Figure 1. Wetzel's Original Collection, Objects by Origin ............................................................. 2

Figure 2. Wetzel's Original Collection, Objects by Type ............................................................... 2

Figure 3. Harvard Art Museums Wetzel Collection, Objects by Type ........................................... 7

Figure 4. Harvard Art Museums Wetzel Collection, Objects by Origin ........................................ 9

Figure 5. Denman Ross in a Rickshaw ......................................................................................... 15

Figure 6. Chinese Buddhist Votive Stele ...................................................................................... 17

Figure 7. Guy Lee and Hervey Wetzel ......................................................................................... 21

Figure 8. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Wetzel Collection, Objects by Origin ........................... 23

Figure 9. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Wetzel Collection, Objects by Type ............................. 23

Figure 10. Bodhisattva of Compassion ......................................................................................... 24

Figure 11. Schematic Concept Plan. ............................................................................................. 28

Figure 12. Gallery I Plan, includes Elevations A-G. .................................................................... 29

Figure 13. Hervey Edward Wetzel, Kyoto, Japan, 1916 .............................................................. 31

Figure 14. Gallery I, Section I, Elevation A, Introductory Panel. ................................................ 32

Figure 15. Hervey Edward Wetzel in a kago, Kyoto, Japan, 1916 ............................................... 33

Figure 16. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation B (includes figures 17). ............................................. 34

Figure 17. Genre Scene ................................................................................................................. 34

Figure 18. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation C (includes figures 20-27) ......................................... 35

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Figure 19. Gallery I, Section II, Plan of Elevation C (includes figures 28-34). ........................... 36

Figure 20. Ritual Food Vessel. ..................................................................................................... 37

Figure 21. Bodjisattva Seated on a Lotus Throne ......................................................................... 37

Figure 22. Cup with Flaring Lip ................................................................................................... 38

Figure 23. Foliate Cup Stand. ....................................................................................................... 39

Figure 24. Censer Cover ............................................................................................................... 39

Figure 25. Vase in the Shape of an Archaic Bronze ..................................................................... 40

Figure 26. Sculptor's Model Head of a Man in Limestone ........................................................... 41

Figure 27. Bodhisattva Ksitgarbha Standing Statue ..................................................................... 42

Figure 28. Spoon With Swallowtail Finial ................................................................................... 43

Figure 29. Spoon With Finial in the Form of a Lotus Bud ........................................................... 43

Figure 30. Spoon with a Lightly Arching Handle......................................................................... 44

Figure 31. Letter from Hervey Wetzel to Mary Lee ..................................................................... 44

Figure 32. Bowl With Griffins. ..................................................................................................... 45

Figure 33. Japanese Octofoil Mirror ............................................................................................. 46

Figure 34. Chinese Octofoil Mirror .............................................................................................. 47

Figure 35. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation D (includes figures 36-38). ....................................... 48

Figure 36. Celadon Bottle ............................................................................................................. 49

Figure 37. Celadon Bowl .............................................................................................................. 49

iv

Figure 38. Celadon Circular Covered Box ................................................................................... 50

Figure 39. Nakamura, Kanji. Denman W. Ross. 1928 ................................................................. 51

Figure 40. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation E (includes figure 41). ............................................. 52

Figure 41. Three Cords With Tassels ........................................................................................... 52

Figure 42. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation F (includes figure 43). .............................................. 54

Figure 43. Blue and Gold Robe. ................................................................................................... 55

Figure 44. Gallery I, Section III, Plan of Elevation F (includes figures 45-50). .......................... 56

Figure 45. Fragment of a Tapestry ................................................................................................ 57

Figure 46. Rose Brocade ............................................................................................................... 58

Figure 47. Roundel With Dragon and Phoenix ............................................................................. 59

Figure 48. Japanese Brocade......................................................................................................... 60

Figure 49. Indian Brocade ............................................................................................................. 60

Figure 50. Fragment of Blue Velvet ............................................................................................. 61

Figure 51. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation G (includes figures 52 and 53). ................................ 62

Figure 52. Nŏ Dance Dress ........................................................................................................... 63

Figure 53. Nŏ Costume ................................................................................................................. 63

Figure 54. Gallery II Plan, includes Elevations H-P. .................................................................... 65

Figure 55. Notes on Arabic Manuscripts by Hervey Wetzel ........................................................ 66

Figure 56. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation H (includes figures 57-59). ..................................... 67

v

Figure 57. Folio of Battle Scene ................................................................................................... 67

Figure 58. Painting of Prince. ....................................................................................................... 68

Figure 59. Folio Scene in a Palace. ............................................................................................... 69

Figure 60. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation I (includes figures 61-64). ...................................... 70

Figure 61. Rashnavad Battles the Rumis ...................................................................................... 71

Figure 62. The Constellation Serpentarius.................................................................................... 72

Figure 63. Bird Illustrated Folio from Nazhat .............................................................................. 73

Figure 64. Female Cupbearer Illustrated Folio from Kitab .......................................................... 74

Figure 65. Gallery II, Section IV, Plan of Elevation I (includes figures 66-69). .......................... 75

Figure 66. Persian Rose Brocade. ................................................................................................. 76

Figure 67. Folio 71 from a Quran. ................................................................................................ 77

Figure 68. Notes on Arabic Manuscripts. ..................................................................................... 77

Figure 69. Folio from a Quran: Sura 28 ........................................................................................ 78

Figure 70. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation J (includes figure 71). ............................................. 79

Figure 71. Steel Persian Melon ..................................................................................................... 79

Figure 72. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation K (includes figures 73-76). ..................................... 80

Figure 73. Portrait of a Ruler ........................................................................................................ 81

Figure 74. Courtier ........................................................................................................................ 81

Figure 75. Portrait of a Man With a Staff ..................................................................................... 82

vi

Figure 76. Gudarz Slays Piran. ..................................................................................................... 83

Figure 77. Photograph. Hervey E. Wetzel Memorial Exhibition: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

Art, 1931 ............................................................................................................................... 84

Figure 78. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation L (includes figure 79). ............................................. 85

Figure 79. Standing Amida Nyorai. .............................................................................................. 86

Figure 80. Gallery II, Section V, Plan of Elevation L (includes figures 81-85). .......................... 87

Figure 81. Circular Ink Cake. ....................................................................................................... 88

Figure 82. Exhibition Pamphlet .................................................................................................... 89

Figure 83. Twenty Four Globular Blue Glass Beads .................................................................... 90

Figure 84. Jade Cylindrical Ring,. ................................................................................................ 90

Figure 85. Circular Covered Box With Lotus Decor .................................................................... 91

Figure 86. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation M (includes figures 87 and 88). ............................... 92

Figure 87. Folio from a Quran: Sura 10: end 107 ......................................................................... 92

Figure 88. Folio from a Quran: Sura 10: mid 109 ........................................................................ 93

Figure 89. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation N (includes figures 90-95). ...................................... 94

Figure 90. Water Buffalo Ritual Vessel ........................................................................................ 95

Figure 91. Sake Bottle................................................................................................................... 96

Figure 92. Deep Tea Bowl ............................................................................................................ 96

Figure 93. Fragment of a Figurine Representing an Underworld Spirit. ...................................... 97

Figure 94. Bowl with Foliate Rim. ............................................................................................... 98

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Figure 95. Wooden Head of a Guardian Figure ............................................................................ 99

Figure 96. Marin Mower, Hervey E. Wetzel. 1917 .................................................................... 100

Figure 97. Gallery II, Section VI, Elevation O (includes figures 98 and 99). ............................ 101

Figure 98. Fra Angelico, Christ on the Cross ............................................................................. 102

Figure 99. Head of King ............................................................................................................. 103

Figure 100. Gallery I, Section VI, Elevation P (includes figures 101 and 102). ........................ 104

Figure 101. Simone Marini, Christ on the Cross ........................................................................ 105

Figure 102. Unknown Artist, Saint Dominic .............................................................................. 106

1

Introduction

Using a selection of objects from the collections of Harvard University and the Museum

of Fine Arts, Boston, this project highlights the legacy of the early twentieth-century art collector

Hervey E. Wetzel (1888-1918). The proposed exhibit will highlight his significant contribution

to the Asian, Islamic, and textile collections in Boston by showcasing the influences that shaped

the collection Wetzel assembled in his lifetime. The exhibit will also demonstrate how Wetzel’s

gifts of objects, in combination with posthumous bequests played an integral part in helping the

Fogg Art Museum (now part of the Harvard Art Museums) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

emerge as modern institutions concerned primarily with collecting and exhibiting original works

of art (Harvard University 20). Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a

Collection is proposed for the fall of 2018 at the Harvard Art Museums. The timing is intended

to mark the centennial anniversary of Wetzel’s death and underscore his collection’s importance

to the museum. The exhibit will also use Wetzel’s life and work as a lens through which to

understand Boston’s pioneering collectors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, by

contextualizing the development of a single collector and the role he and his collection played in

helping the Fogg Museum transform into a modern museum.

The exhibition focuses on five themes: Wetzel’s collecting expeditions; the personal

forces that shaped his interests in collecting; his collecting focus; his cultural role in the Boston

arts community; and finally, his legacy (see Appendix A). The objects selected for this exhibit

reflect Wetzel’s original collection in its specific emphasis and composition (see figures 1 and

2).

2

Figure 1. Wetzel's Original Collection, Objects by Origin. Information and categories compiled

from the curatorial lists of the Harvard Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Figure 2. Wetzel's Original Collection, Objects by Type. Information and categories compiled

from the curatorial lists of the Harvard Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Japanese17%

Chinese19%

Korean3% Southeast

Asian<1%

Tibetan1%

Himalayan1%

Indian8%

Persian7%

Islamic8%

Arab9%

Egyptian12%

Ottoman1%

Turkish3%

Russian<1%

Flemish<1% German

<1%

Italian6%

Sicilian<1%

Spanish<1%

French 3%

British<1%

U.S.<1%

Wetzel's Original CollectionObjects by Origin

Books and Manuscripts

36%

Metalwork4%

Vessels11%

Glass<1%

Architectural Elements

2%

Textiles29%

Lacquer Works<1%

Paintings and Drawings

7%

Sculpture4%

Tools and Equipment

2% Jewelery2%

Arms and Armor1%

Ritual Objects1%

Furniture1%

Wetzel's Original CollectionObjects by Type

3

Wetzel’s collection was comprised of just over 500 objects before it was divided between

the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Fogg Art Museum. The original collection, and as it

was divided between the two institutions, demonstrates Wetzel’s dual interest in collecting and

curating and embody his aesthetic sensibility. The curatorial criterion for the 65 objects selected

for the exhibition was based on four factors (see Appendix B for list of objects). First, the objects

have a clear connection to the section narrative in which they are presented. Second, preference

was given to objects Wetzel himself used in exhibitions and/or loaned to other institutions.

Curatorial emphasis on selecting objects Wetzel himself used in exhibits during his lifetime is

perhaps the best way to illustrate the curatorial criteria Wetzel used to select objects and the

qualities of objects that were important to him as a collector. Third, objects identified in

scholarly writings as important works and/or exemplars of their type were given credence.

Fourth, in line with Wetzel’s philosophy in collecting in which he expressed appreciation of

beauty, objects were chosen that embody his aesthetic values. Wetzel believed “that art did not

have to be viewed within its historical context in order to be appreciated,” rather, “aesthetics

could be expressed as an ideal, beautiful form, regardless of the nature of the object” (Cuddon

18). Wetzel’s collecting choices did not only emphasize the beauty of individual objects, but also

the aesthetic qualities found in an entire class of objects when seen together (Frank 239).

Wetzel’s approach to collecting included crafts, along with artifacts, both valued equally for their

aesthetic properties (Frank 237). This was in keeping with contemporary theories and the

emergence of the modern American art museum (Trask 10). In some cases, multiple objects of

the same type have been chosen in order to represent Wetzel’s collecting philosophy.

4

With the selection rubric in mind, the objects are displayed and arranged in their

respective sections using three contextualizing methods intended to accentuate Wetzel’s

approach to collecting. In the sections pertaining to Wetzel’s overall collection and curatorial

endeavors, disparate objects are grouped and exhibited together. The approach to pairing

dissimilar objects is meant to illustrate Wetzel’s emphasis on collecting objects based on their

aesthetic quality as opposed to their function or period in which they were made. The objects’

relation to each other is linked to Wetzel, the collector instead of through any similarity or

cohesiveness. In the section that displays objects of similar attributes, such as textiles, the fabrics

are displayed together and within close proximity despite originating from different periods and

countries. This again allows for a better appreciation of their distinct qualities through visual

comparison and contrast of their diverse patterns, craftsmanship, and weaves, as well as

highlights the scope and breadth of Wetzel’s collection. Finally, for the section that pertains to a

specific country of origin or genre of object, such as the section on Wetzel’s pioneering

endeavors collecting Persian art, attention was given to a visual cohesion of scale and technique

among diverse groupings in order to underscore Wetzel’s eventual focus and concentrated

interest in collecting Islamic and Indian art.

The first section of the exhibition opens with an introductory text panel that orients

visitors to the scope of the exhibition, accompanied by a large image of Wetzel sitting in a

traditional Japanese ceremonial pose dressed in kimono. Wetzel sits in the “seiza”-style posture

typically used in a Japanese tea ceremony. The oversized 1916 photograph of Wetzel is meant to

engage and welcome visitors. The size of the portrait underscores the exhibit’s motive and

establishes a visual of Wetzel, thereby linking him to the objects on display. Upon entering the

5

exhibition space, bold-colored section panels with corresponding images and explanatory text

provide visitors with visual cues to assist in wayfinding.

The second section, “A Time for Travel and Research,” tells Wetzel’s story after he

graduates from Harvard College in 1911. This section focuses on his travels and his ventures into

collecting. These collecting and research trips began as a consequence of meeting Denman Ross

(1853-1935), a distinguished Harvard design professor and influential Boston collector, through

a mutual friend in 1912 (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2). Although there was a 35-year age

difference, they quickly became good friends, and their friendship changed Wetzel’s life (“The

Wetzel Exhibition” 2). Not long after their initial meeting, Wetzel, together with Ross, set sail on

Wetzel’s first major collecting trip, in a year-long excursion around the world (“The Wetzel

Exhibition” 2). During their time together Ross focused heavily on Asian objects (Ross). This

influenced Wetzel in his collecting habits as evidenced by his future research travel and his

subsequent collecting emphasis on Asian art. Objects in this section, almost entirely Asian in

origin, are identified with each of the three collecting and research trips Wetzel took in 1912,

1914, and 1916 and are intended to help define his philosophy for collecting objects. In

showcasing an eclectic mix of artifacts, emphasis is placed on the primary principle that

governed his collection: collecting objects based on their considered beauty as opposed to their

historical significance.

The first art object a visitor encounters upon entering section two is an expansive

Japanese screen painting of men and women in a house and garden scenery which was acquired

by Wetzel in Kyoto on his 1912 trip with Ross (see Appendix A, figure 16) (Interrante). The

screen is the left-hand section of a pair; the right-hand section, also formerly owned by Wetzel,

currently belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This large mid-seventeenth century work

6

helps transport viewers into another place by filling their field of vision and sets the tone for this

section of the exhibit and the exhibit as a whole. Another object of note is the celadon bottle

from Korea, which “ranks among the most important twelfth-century Korean celadons extant”

with an “…exceptionally clear glaze [that] displays the kingfisher green…the most prized hue

associated with Korean celadons” (Harvard University 66). Placed in a standing case, the bottle

is paired with a celadon bowl and a celadon box (see Appendix A, figure 34). The objects relate

to each other through the identity and comparative tone of their glaze, hence visitors can

appreciate the fine craftsmanship and the aesthetic appeal of celadons, and in particular these

three, which Wetzel acquired on his 1912 and 1916 trips (Interrante). A flat exhibition case

nearby displays metal works from Japan, Korea, Germany, and China (see Appendix A, figure

18). This grouping gives visitors the opportunity to examine the fine detailing of craftsmanship

and the design of similar objects. The metal objects are paired with a handwritten letter from

Wetzel describing the quality of objects he was finding during his travels in Asia. The letter

connects the objects on display to their collector, relating them to each other and humanizing

them for the visitor.

The third section, “Denman Ross: A Mentor’s Influence,” showcases the influence Ross

exerted on Wetzel’s collecting and the way Ross’s highly articulated sense of aesthetics and

appreciation for textiles in turn shaped Wetzel’s sense of taste (Tomita 38). Ross, a highly

regarded collector, was broad and encyclopedic in his acquisitions, however he had specific

interests in a few subject areas, one of which was textiles (Frank 236). Under Ross’s mentoring,

Wetzel adopted his tastes in textiles along with his love for Asian and Islamic art. Wetzel’s

textile collection is also significant because it represents the continued shift in the collecting

practices of Boston museums, which began in the late 1870s (Harris 554). Two changes occurred

7

that relate to Wetzel’s collection. First, museums began collecting utilitarian objects such as

textiles, pottery, metal work, and furniture; second, they began to move away from acquiring

only the old European masters (Harris 554). Wetzel participated in this shift by focusing his

acquisitions on non-European objects and utilitarian objects with merits of beauty and design

(Harris 554). The textiles chosen for this section highlight the detailed ornamental pattern work

in the brocades and fine silk weave of fabrics from different countries and include a couple of

golden-weaved Japanese costumes, a dancing robe, several hand-knotted silk tassels and a

variety of delicate brocade fabrics. The objects exhibited in this section are a sampling of

Wetzel’s textiles, which ultimately made up one-third of his original collection (see figure 2) and

one-fifth of his bequests to the Harvard Art Museums (see figure 3).

Figure 3. Harvard Art Museums Wetzel Collection, Objects by Type. Information and categories

compiled from the curatorial lists of the Harvard Art Museums.

Section four of the exhibition, “Collecting Pioneer,” contains manuscripts and objects

emphasizing Wetzel’s important and early contribution to art collections in Boston as one of the


53%

Metalwork3%

Vessels11%Glass

<1%

Textiles21%

Paintings and Drawings

6%

Sculpture3%

Tools and Equipment

2%Jewelery

<1%

Arms and Armor<1%

Ritual Objects1%

Furniture<1%

Harvard Art MuseumsWetzel CollectionObjects by Type

8

first collectors to focus on Islamic and Indian artifacts (Cuddon 14). Early in their histories,

institutions like the Fogg Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston relied on “the

efforts of a small group of pioneer collectors” (Cuddon 14). Wetzel, along with Ross and Isabella

Stewart Gardner (1840-1924), began collecting Islamic art at a time when there was very little

attention paid to or scholarship on the subject (Cuddon 15). By 1914, Wetzel was studying

“Persian and Mohammedan Art,” now known as Islamic art, at Harvard and had become an

associate at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston covering Persian and Indian art (Cuddon 15).

Persian, Arab, Islamic, and Indian art made up over a third of Wetzel’s bequest to the Fogg Art

Museum (see figure 4).

The objects in this section reflect Wetzel’s contributions to the Islamic and Indian

collections of the two museums and his hope that he would “devote himself and his income to

making the Persian Collection the best in the world” on par with the unparalleled Japanese

collections acquired by Edward Morse (1838-1925), William Sturgis Bigelow (1850-1926), and

Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908) (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3). They include finely painted Persian

miniatures, Indian paintings, Arabic manuscripts with decorative script, a Persian brocade with a

repeating rose pattern, and the only borrowed object, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a

steel Persian ornamental melon finely decorated with engraving and intricate gold inlay detail.

Placed alongside Persian and Arabic manuscripts in a flat case are Wetzel’s own notes

transcribing Arabic texts from the Harvard University Archives (see Appendix A, figure 64). In

1914 Wetzel had begun teaching himself Arabic in order to catalogue his own collection; this

manuscript provides visitors with a rare look at Wetzel’s own writing and personalizes his

connection to his Islamic and Indian artifacts (Cuddon 15).

9

The fifth section, “Wetzel, the Cultural Entrepreneur,” presents objects Wetzel selected

from his own collection while curating an exhibit at the Fogg Art Museum in 1918 (Wetzel). The

objects included in this section were selected and arranged by Wetzel for his last exhibition on

Japanese, Chinese, and Korean art just before leaving for Paris to serve in World War I. The

objects in this section include a wooden Buddha covered in cut gold, a circular box with lotus

décor, two Arab folios in ink and gold, decorated ritual vessels, a rectangular porcelain sake

bottle with landscape decoration in blue, and a bowl with scrolling lotus décor. Most of the

objects displayed in this section will be viewed in flat cases and arranged with similar objects to

allow for comparison of their design and decorative attributes.

Figure 4. Harvard Art Museums Wetzel Collection, Objects by Origin. Information and

categories compiled from the curatorial lists of the Harvard Art Museums.

A catalog of Wetzel’s 1918 exhibit will also be on display alongside the objects, thus linking the

objects to Wetzel’s own curatorial vision.

Japanese12%

Chinese15%

Korean4%

Tibetan1%

Indian6%

Persian10%

Islamic8%

Arab14%

Egyptian19%

Ottoman2%

Turkish1%

Flemish<1%

German<1%

Italian5%

French 1%

British<1%

Harvard Art MuseumsWetzel CollectionObjects by Origin

10

In addition to his curatorial work in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Fogg Art

Museum, Wetzel loaned objects to cultural institutions throughout the country, wrote articles on

Persian and Indian paintings, and served on international committees promoting the arts. He

purchased two adjoining houses in Boston’s Louisburg Square to house his growing collection

with the intention of turning them into a small museum (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3). The

motives of wealthy Bostonians like Wetzel who built museum art collections “were both

complex and contradictory, a mix of personal and public ambitions, elitist and democratic

sentiments” (Duncan 54). Wetzel positioned himself as a member of institutional high culture

enabled by his financial means and motivated by municipal pride and social status (Cuddon 19).

In many ways Wetzel represented Boston’s cultural milieu to the world through his participation

in such cultural enterprises. Despite the fact that Wetzel had no official position at the Fogg Art

Museum, he seems to have exerted a great deal of influence on this exhibit, to the extent that he

essentially curated it, and the exhibit demonstrates his influence as both collector and curator.

The 1918 exhibit, with its eclectic choice of objects, became his last gesture, illustrating his

aesthetic interest and his contextualization of that interest.

In the last section, titled “Wetzel’s Legacy, visitors view objects acquired by the Fogg

Art Museum using funds from Wetzel’s bequests. In his will, he bequeathed both objects and

money, in the sum of $100,000 to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Fogg Art Museum.

The funds were “to be used for the purchase of important works of art of rare beauty” (Harvard

University 20). Wetzel’s financial gift provided Fogg Art Museum Director Edward Forbes

“with his first significant acquisition funds” (Harvard University 20). Wetzel’s gift helped

Forbes launch a more coherent acquisitions program, so that the Fogg curators were no longer

left to build the collections through happenstance (Harvard University 20). At that time, the Fogg

11

Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston were transforming and moving away from

collections based on reproductions, photographs, and prints to original artifacts (Harris 559).

These funds allowed Forbes to realize his vision of a museum made up of primarily original

works of art (Harvard University 20). The objects in this section are the pieces acquired by

Forbes and show the significant role such funding has played in the museum’s mission. In

addition to the four exceptional works of art purchased by the museum, the Fogg Art Museum

also received approximately 300 objects, accounting for sixty-three percent of Wetzel’s total

collection, bolstering its Asian, Islamic, and textile collections.

Laying out the exhibition thematic areas in the order presented, visitors are able to

observe the evolution of a collector and his collection, understanding the role Wetzel played in

boosting Boston’s cultural standing and humanizing the process that make these art objects

accessible. This exhibition, not unlike an anthropological study, has been assembled from

multiple sources. There is no central archive of materials for reconstructing Wetzel’s life or the

story of how he became a collector, and the written manuscript sources that do exist are spotty.

This exhibit is a way of accomplishing that through objects. Information regarding the exhibit

objects were found on the Harvard Art Museum’s website, in museum periodicals, individual

object files, curator’s lists, and inactive museum records that are closed to outside researchers.

Object provenance dates and location of acquisition, unless published by a curator, reside in the

Harvard Art Museum’s closed Wetzel files. For this project, curatorial divisions within the

museum granted access to the locations and dates of eighteen objects from the closed files.

Supporting manuscript materials will be included alongside the artifacts as a means to further

contextual Wetzel’s collection. The curatorial decision to include personal documentation with

the collected artifacts is motivated by wanting to create an object-based social history for

12

Wetzel’s collecting. This format helps visitors to see the objects beyond themselves and link

them to Wetzel and the process of collecting. Furthermore, the exhibit will not only connect the

objects displayed to a specific person, but also to an important period during Boston’s cultural

development and the formative years of Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum.

Background of Topic

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States, affluent

citizens became actively involved in elevating the cultural and institutional standing of their

respective cities (Cuddon 19). Art collecting amongst the wealthy was not just an arena in which

to compete with each other for municipal pride, but also an attempt to cultivate the cultural

position of American cities to equal that of European counterparts (Cuddon 19). As the sole heir

of his parent’s estate at the age of 20, Wetzel had the civic mindset, resources, and motivation for

such engagement. Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1888, he attended Harvard College and graduated

in the spring of 1911 (Hervey Edward 88). Wetzel had been an average student with no

particular interest in any specific subject; however, he was now an educated man of means due to

the recent death of both his parents and a substantial inheritance (Hervey Edward 88). Although

he realized he had a considerable aptitude for business while pursuing an advanced degree in

business administration at Harvard, he had little interest in the profession and soon turned his

attention to the study and collecting of fine arts (Hervey Edward 88).

The trajectory of 24-year-old Hervey Edward Wetzel’s life was changed through a

chance meeting orchestrated by Fogg Art Museum Director Edward Forbes (1873-1969) when

Forbes introduced Wetzel to Harvard professor and art collector Denman Waldo Ross. Ross later

described their meeting as “fortunate…Wetzel was just the man I wanted to know and we were,

13

at once, the best of friends” (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2). In meeting Ross, Wetzel discovered his

passion for art collecting, amassing a collection in just six short years, many of notable

importance to museums at the time. During those years he also took collecting trips abroad,

wrote articles, designed exhibits, and was eventually offered a curatorship at the Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston. Wetzel died in 1918 at the age of 30 serving the Red Cross during World War I

(Hervey Edward 88). He left his collection and funds to both the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard

University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Hervey Edward 88).

Not long after the initial meeting between Ross and Wetzel, the two men planned a trip to

the Far East including Japan and China, returning by way of India, and ending in Europe. Ross

later said of the trip, “It was to be a journey for study and research, for sightseeing and the

collecting of works of Art” (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2). For Wetzel the trip was an education,

and Ross took the lead, stipulating that he, as the collector, would have precedence in selecting

objects (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2). Ross’s archived travel diaries give a comprehensive and

detailed day-by-day account of their journey. In these diaries, Ross sketches and also describes

architecture, landscape, objects, and museums. Ross was to later state, “We had the same interest

and the same purpose…our interest was in the world of vision and our purpose was to discover

what is best worth seeing in every kind” (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2). He also emphasized that,

“In collecting we proceeded regardless of archaeological or historical considerations. We were

not historians. We were simply lovers of order and the beautiful…” (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2).

In reviewing Wetzel’s collection, two aspects are evident: first, the diverse mix of objects, from

works of fine art to “objects of the so-called minor arts and crafts” and second, the extensive

number of objects Wetzel collected in a relatively short period of time (“The Wetzel Exhibition”

2). This observation confirms Ross’s account that “we proposed to buy what we liked best and

14

wanted to add to our collection” and that “the beautiful is how you like it” (“The Wetzel

Exhibition” 2). One can deduce that Wetzel’s principle in collecting was therefore a purely

visceral and aesthetic choice.

Setting sail on August 31, 1912, they arrived in Japan approximately two weeks later and

traveled through the Japanese countryside, sometimes by rickshaw (see figure 5), visiting with

art dealers and sacred sites in towns such as Kamakura, Nakatsu, Yabakei, Nikko, and the

important Buddhist temples and shrines of Kyushu (Ross). After the opening of Japan to the

West, during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Buddhist and Shinto temple sites were places where

collectors acquired ancient objects (Benfey 84). It was a time of transition for Japanese culture

and there was a great deal of East-West reciprocity. During this era, the Japanese government no

longer financially supplemented the religious temple sites; many of these sites were forced to sell

off sacred objects in order to cover operating costs (Benfey 84). This new modern era in Japan

also saw the destruction of the old in favor of the modern (Benfey XV). Ross and other

Bostonians, who understood the cultural importance of ancient art objects, went about collecting

these culturally significant objects and depositing them into Boston’s museums (Benfey 84). In

doing so they created “the greatest and most comprehensive repository of Japanese art outside of

Japan” (Benfey 76).

15

Figure 5. Denman Ross in a Rickshaw, Kyoto, Japan, 1912 from HIS1/DWR117, Denman

Waldo Ross Photographs, 1908-1913. William Morris Hunt Memorial Library, Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Bruce Williams, Personal photograph. 9 May 2016.

As Wetzel and Ross traveled through Japan, Ross made copious notes concerning objects

he acquired or noted those items he was interested in acquiring. Among the objects he lists and

describes were tapestries, tea bowls and jars, statuaries, and finely crafted everyday Japanese

items. Ross went so far as to discuss the materiality of objects, such as shoji paper whose

“exquisite effect is not to be forgotten” (Ross). Wetzel and Ross also visited Kyoto and

according to information contained in closed Harvard Art Museum institutional records, Wetzel

acquired not only Japanese, but also Chinese objects, however, what remains unknown, and what

might be revealed in further records is the question of from whom they acquired the objects in

Kyoto (Interrante). Both Wetzel and Ross had a close relationship with Asian art dealer

Yamanaka & Company of Kyoto and Boston, and so it is possible some or all of these items

came from Yamanaka (Frank 254). Further travels took them to Osaka, Japan to see examples of

16

wonderful Kamakura period (1185-1333) sculpture (Ross). Wetzel acquired the Bodhisattva

Ksitigarbha, a Kamakura period Buddhist statue on this trip (Interrante).

In addition to their collecting efforts they also made time to search out museums for

research purposes and to ascertain the quality of objects in comparison to the holdings of the

burgeoning museums back home, particularly the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Ross). On

October 17, 1912, Ross opines in his journal that the museum collections he has seen thus far

have been very limited to a few impressive examples and that the “Boston Museum is certainly

on par or superior in the quality and scope of its Japanese collections” (Ross).

Their travels continued on to China, where they visited Shanghai, Qingdao, Hong Kong,

and several other mainland Chinese cities. On this trip Wetzel acquired what is considered one of

his most important objects, a Chinese Buddhist memorial stele (see figure 6) (McCarthy). The

limestone stele dates from the Western Wei dynasty (A.D. 535-556) and was erected in A.D. 554

(“J.E.L.” 58). During the time of its creation, Buddhists in China embraced the conventional

Chinese practice of utilizing rectangular stone sections for dedicatory purposes and “on no form

of artistic expression did Buddhism exert a more overwhelming influence than sculpture”

(“J.E.L.” 58). The “Wetzel” stele, as it is sometimes identified, was described in a 1915 edition

of the Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin as “the most important piece of Buddhist sculpture that has

yet come out of China” (“J.E.L.” 58).

17

Figure 6. Chinese Buddhist Votive Stele, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Web. 28

Apr. 2016.

Following their tour of Asia, they went on to Calcutta, India. There is no known

documentation of what they acquired in India; however, both Wetzel and Ross were very

interested in collecting Indian objects, which eventually made up eight percent of Wetzel’s

collection (see figure 1).

From India they traveled on to Europe, visiting Turkey, Italy, and Spain. Although there

is little information on Wetzel’s collecting during this portion of the trip, it is known that he

acquired textiles from India, Spain, and Italy (“F.V.P.” 41). In a letter from Forbes to Wetzel

dated June 6, 1913, Forbes thanks Wetzel for his postcard from Florence and laments, “I shall be

interested to hear how the Italian galleries affected you after seeing the masterpieces of the East”

(Forbes). Forbes clearly understood the invaluable education and influence a trip of this variety

and scope could have on a person interested in the appreciation and collection of objects and the

significance it would have on a person scrutinizing the correlations between East and West

artistic and design philosophies. In particular, Ross’s influence and guidance during the trip

would help Wetzel cultivate an ideology in collecting similar to Ross’s own. Charles Eliot

18

Norton, Ross’s professor and mentor during his years as an undergraduate at Harvard University,

had indoctrinated Ross with the view that “the arts offered a form of knowledge distinct from

historical text” and that “art depended on design and through design the faculties of judgment

and discrimination were strengthened” (Frank 234). Ross’s collecting practices were ably

described by his biographer Marie Frank as, “he dissolved the boundaries between the fine arts

and the decorative arts,” collecting objects not as examples of craftsmanship but as great works

of art (Frank 237). This philosophy coincides with his interest in collecting utilitarian and non-

traditional objects such as textile. Ross would eventually instill this practice into Wetzel, whose

collection is reflective of Ross’s interests in textiles, Asian, and Islamic art. Ross was also

explicit, in his discussion of the 1912 collecting trip with Wetzel, that both men’s approach to

collecting was not dependent on any historical or archaeological intent but rather depending on

the beauty of the best examples of objects they came across (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 2).

Wetzel’s first excursion ended in Great Britain, where after a stay in London they set sail on

September 7, 1913 for Boston.

In the months that followed, Wetzel was absorbed with collecting. He purchased a house

in Boston’s exclusive Beacon Hill neighborhood intending to have a place to entertain guests and

give his vast collection a proper home (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3). After settling into his new

residence, Wetzel began cataloging all of the items he had collected abroad (“The Wetzel

Exhibition” 3).

By early February of 1914, Wetzel loaned Persian and European illuminated manuscripts

and Asian paintings, most likely collected on his trip with Ross, to the Fogg Art Museum for a

special exhibition celebrating the reopening of its renovated galleries (“Exhibits Now On” 7).

That same February, The Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston reported that Wetzel had

19

made his first loan of “mainly Oriental” objects to the museum acquired during 1912 and 1913

(“Index to Volume XII”). In June of 1914, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston again noted in the

Bulletin that it held a special exhibition, “Objects From the Collection of Mr. Hervey E. Wetzel,”

although there was no detailed mention of the objects on display (“F.V.P.” 41). What is known is

that the exhibition displayed broad and varied artifacts, including textiles from Italy, Spain,

India, China, and Japan and collected during the “recently completed trip around the world in the

company with Dr. Denman W. Ross…” (“F.V.P.” 41).

Wetzel set off again on another art collecting trip in June of 1914, just nine months after

his return from his journey with Ross, this time with a special interest in Spain and Italy and

accompanied by Harvard professor Chandler Rathfon Post (1881-1959), a travel companion well

suited and versed in the art of Spain, Greece, and Italy (“Post”). In choosing Post as a travel

companion, Wetzel was seeking out an expert tutor, in the same way he had relied on Ross to

teach him how to collect in Asia. Post would later produce a landmark multi-volume study of

Spanish painting. There is scant documentation regarding Wetzel’s second trip, however, a letter

to Forbes from Wetzel, shows the zeal of the collector, “Dear Edward: I am in Madrid. Chandler

Post and I have been in Spain…there is a Duccio [di Buoninsegna] in London at Fairfax

Murray’s that I long for – a large Madonna and Child in fine condition. Oh, the temptations are

frightful!” (Forbes). Wetzel’s own words reveal an interest and passion in art. Upon his return

from Europe later that year, Wetzel was appointed an Associate of the Department of Western

Art, with the collections of “Mohammedan Art” as his special province (“Notes” 55). This

position gave him the opportunity to work closely with the collections of the Museum of Fine

Arts, particularly the Persian collections, and he continued to do so for several years (“Notes”

55).

20

In addition to his work in Boston with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Fogg Art

Museum, Wetzel loaned objects from his own collections to various museums throughout the

country and served on international committees promoting culture and art. One such exhibit in

New York City at the Cooper Union Museum of Decorative Art featured Wetzel’s textiles

alongside those from the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, Rhode Island School of

Design, J. P. Morgan, and the Cooper Institute collections (“Some Notable Exhibits” 2).

Prominently announced on the cover of the magazine American Art News, Wetzel was asked to

serve on the American branch of the National Special Aid Society to “bring about the revival of

the art industries in Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia” along with luminary committee

members such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Mrs. William Rockefeller, John Singer Sargent and

Denman Ross (“To Revive Art” 1). In many ways, like Ross, Wetzel represented Boston’s

cultural milieu to the world through his participation in such enterprises.

Early in March 1916, Wetzel embarked on his third, and what ended up being his last,

major art collecting expedition. In this trip Wetzel used everything he had learned on his 1912

and 1914 expeditions. On those trips Ross and Post served a purpose in that they educated and

influenced Wetzel in the ways of travel, research, and most importantly, collecting. During the

seven-month journey focusing primarily on Asia, Wetzel and travel companion Guy Hunter Lee

visited Japan, China, and Korea. There is some documentation of this trip found in letters and

photographs sent to Lee’s sister Mary Lee by both Wetzel and Lee (see figure 7). In one letter,

Wetzel describes the collections he was seeing in general terms, “In Korea we did see the best

works of art, and as they are usually remote, we saw at the same time many untouched country,

country still quite Korean” (“Letter to Mary”). Along with Japanese and Chinese objects, Wetzel

did collect some exquisite Korean objects including a segmented celadon bottle with a fruit and

21

floral design and a small celadon bowl decorated with cranes (Interrante). The beautiful natural

forms, color, and decoration related to Ross’s, and Wetzel’s, taste in collecting. Wetzel acquired

his first celadon glazed object under Ross’s supervision in 1912. The celadon bottle with the

much prized “kingfisher green” tone demonstrates Wetzel perfecting his tastes and following

Ross’s motto of collecting the “best of its kind” (Frank 238).

Figure 7. Guy Lee and Hervey Wetzel at a Japanese tea ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, 1916 from

Box 48 Folder 9. MC587 Papers of Mary Lee, 1891-1982. Schlesinger Library, Harvard

University, Cambridge, MA, 25 April 2014.

Upon his return to Boston, Wetzel entered the doctoral program at the Harvard Graduate

School to study “Persian” and “Mohammedam” art (“Hervey Edward” 88). He also began

simultaneously studying Arabic to aid him in his studies and work at the Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston (“Hervey Edward” 88). In early 1918, he was offered the position of Curator of Persian

Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (“Hervey Edward” 88). This appointment gave Wetzel

great pride (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3). Ross remembered of Wetzel, “He was delighted with

the opportunity that this appointment gave him and took up his work with enthusiasm” (“The

Wetzel Exhibition” 3). Unfortunately, his tenure was short lived since he halted his collection

and curatorial work to serve the United States during World War I (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3).

22

Unable to enlist for medical reasons, he joined the Red Cross stationed in Paris heading the

Department of Permits and Passes (“The Wetzel Exhibition” 3). By October, this undertaking

proved to be too much for him and he suffered a collapse due to exhaustion (“Hervey Edward”

88). He died of pneumonia at the age of 30 on October 14, 1918 in the Red Cross Hospital in

Neuilly, France (“Hervey Edward” 88).

Wetzel bequeathed his collections and set aside financial support for the Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston and the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Fogg Art Museum in the

amount of $100,000 to each without any stipulations (“Hervey Edward” 88). He named Denman

Ross as one of the executors to the funds left to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and assigned

Forbes and Ross to direct the Wetzel Collection funds left to the Fogg Art Museum (Wetzel,

Will 1).

In the years following Wetzel’s death, particularly in the early 1920s, there is listing after

listing in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Bulletin of objects he left to the museum or objects

purchased with Wetzel Collection funds. Wetzel left approximately 177 objects to the Museum

of Fine Arts, Boston, which accounts for about 38 percent of his original collection. Although a

larger portion of objects made their way into the Fogg Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston received a greater percentage of Wetzel’s Asian and textile collections (see figures 3, 4,

8, and 9 to compare). Ross and other curators most likely felt the Asian and textile collections

were better suited for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston collections.

23

Figure 8. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Wetzel Collection, Objects by Origin. Information and


Figure 9. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Wetzel Collection, Objects by Type. Information and


Today, Wetzel’s influence can still be felt in the selection of the objects bequeathed by

him or acquired with his bequests, such as the Chinese Buddhist votive stele (given in honor of

Japanese24%

Chinese27%

Korean2%

Persian<1%

Islamic8%

U.S.<1%

Indian12%

Spanish1%

French6%

Italian8%

Sicilian<1%

Turkish5%

Southeast Asian1%

Himalayan2%

Russian<1%

Museum of Fine Arts, BostonWetzel CollectionObjects by Origin


9%

Metalwork8%

Ceramics11% Glass

<1%

Architectural Elements

4%Textiles42%

Lacquer Works<1%

Paintings10%

Sculpture5%

Tools and Equipment

2%

Jewelery4%

Arms and Armor1%

Ritual Objects2%

Furniture2%

Museum of Fine Arts, BostonWetzel CollectionObjects by Type

24

Ross), Bodhisattva of Compassion sculpture, and a Zhang ceremonial blade, which can be seen

today on permanent display in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s Paul and Helen Bernat Asian

Galleries. The four-and-a-half-foot tall gilded wood Bodhisattva of Compassion statue created

around the twelfth century is now the centerpiece of a newly renovated gallery (see figure 10).

Textiles purchased with Wetzel Collection funds were on display in the recent 2014 Quilts and

Color exhibit.

Figure 10. Bodhisattva of Compassion, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Web. 5

May 2016.

Currently, objects acquired through Wetzel’s bequests can be seen throughout the Asian,

Mediterranean, and European galleries at the Harvard Art Museums. Fourteenth-century

Chinese ritual vessels like the cast bronze water buffalo, along with the twelfth-and thirteenth-

century Korean celadon bottle and bowl can be seen on display. A select few of Wetzel’s Persian

miniatures and Arabic manuscripts are on view, and all four of the pieces purchased by Forbes

with Wetzel’s funding are on display in the European galleries.

25

Conclusion

Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector: the Making of a Collection is designed to

provide visitors with access to one of the many back-stories of the objects they encounter in the

museum. Wetzel’s story, in particular, can be captivating to a modern audience because he was

on the cusp of becoming a highly influential and transformational figure in Boston’s cultural

institutions, if it weren’t for his untimely death. Ross remarked on this explicitly, in a

remembrance written in 1931, when he noted that “Seeing what Wetzel accomplished… it can be

imagined what he might have accomplished in a long and quiet life of public service” (“The

Wetzel Exhibition” 3). In just six short years, Wetzel amassed a collection of approximately 500

objects and created a legacy at the Harvard Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

that is now almost a century old. Wetzel's profound desire to serve society and to spread the

knowledge and appreciation of what he considered best in life and art is evident in the

extraordinary collection that he assembled. His collection was not only congruent with collecting

practices of the time, but also prescient in its substantial contribution to the Islamic and Indian

collections in Boston. His collection came to be at a pivotal time in the trajectory of institutional

changes across the country. The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of progressive

connoisseurship and museum reformation (Trask 1). Museums in the United States were

expanding their attention to non-Eurocentric collections while pedagogical ideas regarding the

role of museums were being debated within the academic departments at Harvard (Frank 55).

Similar to many of his Boston contemporaries, such as Ross and Gardner, Wetzel

devoted his adult life to building an art collection with a keen interest in shaping the course of

museums in Boston and cultivating their cultural standing. However, his role as collector,

curator, and benefactor has been mostly overlooked in comparison to his contemporaries.

26

Interest in such an exhibit concerning the backstory of collectors and their collections can be

seen in such recent exhibits as the 2015 Harvard Art Museums’ The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel

Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States and the 2016 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s The Power

of Prints: The Legacy of William M. Ivins and A. Hyatt Mayor. Both exhibitions concentrated on

the collectors and how they went about constructing their collections. The proposed exhibit on

Hervey Wetzel is a window into his mind, uncovering the characteristics of an individual who

helped shape and influence today’s Harvard Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

through significant donations and funding. Curating an exhibition marking the centennial of

Wetzel’s untimely death is befitting in acknowledging his legacy while at the same time

introducing him to a new audience. The anniversary date is an appropriate time to both

appreciate what Wetzel’s collections have meant to the Harvard Art Museums and to appreciate

them in the context of the institution’s history.

27

Appendix A

Storyboard for Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a Collection Exhibit

Section Content Means of Expression

1. Introduction:

The Making of a

Collector, the

Making of a

Collection

Summary of the exhibition’s

purpose: Highlight the life and

collections of Hervey Wetzel and

also use him as a lens to

understand Boston’s art collecting

culture in the early twentieth

century.

Large vertical text panel on Sintra

board with exhibition introduction

juxtaposed with a large sepia image

of Wetzel in kimono on Sintra

board. Panel floats ½ inch from

wall using a French cleat and

spacers.

2. A Time For

Travel and

Research

Wetzel took three major trips for

collecting and research. Overview

of these trips abroad and what he

collected.

Vertical section panel with theme

text and image of Wetzel in a kago

on Sintra board. Panel floats ½

inch from wall using a French cleat

and spacers.

3. Denman Ross: a

Mentor’s

Influence

Denman Ross as a mentor to

Wetzel. Denman’s influence on

Wetzel’s collection, particularly

textiles.


text and image of Wetzel and Ross

on Sintra board. Panel floats ½

inch from wall using a French cleat

and spacers.

4. Collecting

Pioneer

Wetzel in the context of Boston’s

collecting pioneers. Frame Wetzel

as a next-generation collecting

pioneer by way of his interest in

Persian and Islamic art.


text and image of Wetzel’s Arabic

transcript on Sintra board. Panel

floats ½ inch from wall using a

French cleat and spacers.

5. Wetzel the

Cultural

Entrepreneur

Introduce Wetzel as a cultural

entrepreneur in the context of

Boston’s collecting culture.

Define cultural entrepreneur.

Objects from 1918 Wetzel

exhibition.


text and image of 1918 Wetzel

exhibition on Sintra board. Panel

floats ½ inch from wall using a

French cleat and spacers.

6. Wetzel’s

Legacy

Wetzel’s death and legacy to both

the Harvard Art Museums and the

MFA, specifically Wetzel’s gift

that enabled Fogg Director

Edward Forbes to make the

museum’s first major acquisitions.


text and image of Martin Mower

portrait of Wetzel on Sintra board.

Panel floats ½ inch from wall using

a French cleat and spacers.

28

Schematic Concept Plan, Floor Plans, and Exhibit Content

Figure 11. Schematic Concept Plan.

29

Figure 12. Gallery I Plan, includes Elevations A-G.

30

Section 1: Introduction to Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a Collection

Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a Collection

In 1911, at the age of 22, Hervey E. Wetzel was a recent graduate of Harvard College and just

inherited a significant fortune. Having lost both parents a few years before, Wetzel found

himself unencumbered by social expectations and with little interest in pursuing a traditional

profession. Instead, under the tutelage of Harvard’s art history faculty, he focused his

attention on art collecting.

Wetzel quickly became part of an elite group of Boston citizens, motivated by municipal pride

and dedicated to boosting Boston’s cultural position by supporting the Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston, and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, still fairly young institutions with collections

assembled from happenstance.

Between 1912 and 1918, Wetzel amassed a collection of over 500 objects; the results of three

trips to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, collecting everything from fine arts to beautifully

designed utilitarian objects. His love for art and objects of beauty, and in particular his interest

in the uncommon practice of collecting Persian and Indian art, earned him a post as a curator

at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Wetzel’s contributions to Boston’s cultural institutions have played a significant role in the

foundation of several museums’ collections. At the time of his death in 1918, at age 30, while

serving in the Red Cross during World War I, Wetzel was positioned to make a major

contribution through means of gifts and bequests Wetzel’s will provided the Fogg Art

Museum with one of its first substantial acquisition funding gifts and enabled the institution’s

transformation into a museum primarily of original works of art.

31

Figure 13. Hervey Edward Wetzel, Kyoto, Japan, 1916 from Box 48 Folder 9. MC587 Papers of

Mary Lee, 1891-1982. Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 25 April 2014.

32

Figure 14. Gallery I, Section I, Elevation A, Introductory Panel.

33

Section 2: A Time For Travel and Research

Figure 15. Hervey Edward Wetzel in a kago, Kyoto, Japan, 1916 from Box 48 Folder 9. MC 587

Papers of Mary Lee, 1891-1982. Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 25

April 2014.

A Time For Travel and Research

A fortunate meeting in 1912 changed the trajectory of Wetzel’s life when, at the age of 24, he

was introduced to Denman Ross, Harvard design professor and influential Boston collector.

The two men, although 35 years apart in age, quickly became good friends. Not long after

their initial meeting, Wetzel and Ross set sail on a yearlong trip that “was to be a journey for

study and research, for sightseeing and the collecting of works of Art.” Their journey began

in Japan and China, where they met art dealers and traveled the countryside visiting sacred

sites in small towns. Returning by way of India, they visited Turkey, Italy, Spain and finally

Great Britain. During the journey, Ross focused heavily on collecting Asian objects. Ross’s

tutelage influenced Wetzel for the rest of his life, as evidenced by his subsequent research,

travel, and acquisitions. In less than four years, Wetzel would set sail again twice for

collecting excursions around the world. Objects in this section, mostly Asian in origin,

represent the three collecting and research trips Wetzel took in 1912, 1914, and 1916.

34

Figure 16. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation B (includes figures 17).

Figure 17. Genre Scene, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

35

Figure 18. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation C (includes figures 20-27).

Genre Scene of Men and Women Enjoying Pastimes in Houses and Gardens (Teinaiteigai

yûraku-zu)

Japanese, Early Edo period, mid-seventeenth century

Six-panel folding screen (the left of a pair); ink, color and gold on paper

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.173

Setting sail on August 31, 1912, and arriving in Japan approximately two weeks later, Wetzel

traveled alongside Ross through the Japanese countryside, sometimes by rickshaw, meeting

with art dealers and visiting sacred sites. Wetzel acquired this six-panel folding screen, the

left side of a pair, during his first excursion. The right-hand section, also acquired by Wetzel,

was gifted to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Interrante).

36

Figure 19. Gallery I, Section II, Plan of Elevation C (includes figures 28-34).

37

Figure 20. Ritual Food Vessel, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 21. Bodjisattva Seated on a Lotus Throne, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,

Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Ritual Food Vessel Type ‘Gui’ with ‘Taotie’ décor in the manner of a Western Zhou-period

‘Gui’ Vessel

Chinese, Song dynasty, probably 960 -1279

Cast bronze with a cast inscription on vessel floor


38

Figure 22. Cup with Flaring Lip, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Bodhisattva Seated on a Lotus Throne

Chinese, Tang dynasty to Five Dynasties period, late ninth to tenth century

Bronze with traces of lacquer and gilding


Acquired by Wetzel in Kyoto, Japan on his 1916 trip (Interrante).

Cup with Flaring Lip

Chinese, Song dynasty, Southern Song period, 1127-1279

Qingbai ware: porcelain with pale sky-blue glaze

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.210.A

39

Figure 23. Foliate Cup Stand, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 24. Censer Cover, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Foliate Cup Stand with Notched Rim and Reticulated Cup Receptacle

Chinese, Song dynasty, Southern Song period, twelfth to thirteenth century

Qingbai ware: porcelain with pale sky-blue glaze over combed, molded, and openwork

decoration

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.210.B

40

Figure 25. Vase in the Shape of an Archaic Bronze, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridbge,


‘Boshan lu’ Censer Cover with Scenes of Humans and Animals in a Mountainous Landscape

Chinese, Han dynasty, Eastern Han period, first to second century

Cast bronze


41

Figure 26. Sculptor's Model Head of a Man in Limestone, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Tall Vase in the Shape of an Archaic Bronze “Zun” Beaker with Figural and Floral

Decoration

Qing dynasty, nineteenth century

Enameled blue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue

and overglaze polychrome enamels


Acquired by Wetzel in Peking, China on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (Interrante).

Head of a man possibly Nectanabo II (sculptor’s model)

Egyptian, Ptolemaic period, 4th c. BCE -1st c. BCE

Limestone


Acquired by Wetzel in Cairo, Egypt on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (Interrante).

42

Figure 27. Bodhisattva Ksitgarbha Standing Statue, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha (Jizŏ Bosatsu) Standing

Japanese, Kamakura period, fourteenth century

Cypress wood with lacquer and traces of cut gold-leaf


Acquired by Wetzel in Kyoto, Japan on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (Interrante).

After the opening of Japan to the West during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), what was

modern was embraced and what was old was rejected. As a result, the Japanese government

no longer financially supplemented religious temple sites. Many of these sites were forced to

sell off sacred objects in order to cover operating costs. Wetzel became one out of a group of

Bostonians that understood the cultural importance of ancient art objects, and went about

collecting these culturally significant objects, depositing them into Boston’s museums, in

turn, helping create a collection of Japanese art unrivaled outside of Japan.

43

Figure 28. Spoon With Swallowtail Finial, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Figure 29. Spoon With Finial in the Form of a Lotus Bud, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Spoon with Elongated Lotus-Petal Shaped Bowl, Arching Handle, and Swallowtail Finial

Korean, Koryô dynasty, 918-1392

Hammered bronze with incised and punched decoration


Acquired by Wetzel in Korea on his 1916 trip (Interrante).

44

Figure 30. Spoon with a Lightly Arching Handle, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge,


Figure 31. Letter from Hervey Wetzel to Mary Lee from Box 48 Folder 9. MC 587 Papers of

Mary Lee, 1891-1982. Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 25 April 2014.

Spoon with Two Bowls—an Elongated Lotus-Petal Shaped Bowl at One End and a Circular

Lotus-Petal Shaped Bowl at the Other, the two Bowls Connected by a Lightly Arching

Handle.

Korean, Koryô dynasty, 918-1392

Bronze (probably cast)


Acquired by Wetzel in Korea on his 1916 trip (Interrante).

45

Figure 32. Bowl With Griffins, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Bowl with Griffins

German, fifteenth century

Brass

Busch-Reisinger Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, BR65.55

Acquired by Wetzel in Florence, Italy on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (Interrante).

Letter from Hervey Wetzel to Mary Lee Describing Object Collecting in Asia While in Japan

American, 1916

Paper and ink

Schlesinger Library, Papers of Mary Lee, MC 587, Box 48, Folder 9

46

Figure 33. Japanese Octofoil Mirror, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Octofoil Mirror with Relief Decoration of Two Phoenixes and Auspicious Flowers

Japanese, Heian period, 794-1185

Cast bronze



47

Figure 34. Chinese Octofoil Mirror, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Octofoil Mirror with Relief Decoration of Two Birds, Leonine Beasts, and Blossoming

Plants, the Border with Butterflies and Blossoming Plants

Chinese, Tang dynasty, 618-907

Cast bronze



Metalwork makes up only four percent of Wetzel’s original collection, however, his interest

in collecting the genre spanned throughout all his excursions. During his 1912 trip with

Denman Ross, Wetzel acquired two octofoil mirrors; similar in shape they demonstrate

Wetzel’s interest in distinct design within similar objects. Three brass spoons from a

collection of six from the Koro dynasty, were acquired together during what would be

Wetzel’s last excursion just four years later, although similar, each spoon is singular in its

aesthetic distinction, noticeable in its own detail and charm. Correspondence from Wetzel’s

1916 trip to his travel companion’s sister in the States, details account of the journey and the

objects collected.

48

Figure 35. Gallery I, Section II, Elevation D (includes figures 36-38).

Originating in China, clear glaze greenware was produced in many regions throughout Asia,

however Korean celadons created during the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) are the most

treasured examples of the style. Light-colored stoneware is incised and/or inlaid with intricate

design, but it is the specific greenish hue, known as “kingfisher green”, that is most valued

and associated with the period. These three pieces were created within two hundred years of

each other and show a consistent exercise in achieving the prized tone. Wetzel purchased

these pieces during his 1912 and 1916 trips (Harvard University 20).

49

Figure 36. Celadon Bottle, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 37. Celadon Bowl, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Segmented Maebyŏng Bottle with Decoration of Flowering and Fruiting Branches

Korean, Koryŏ dynasty, mid-twelfth century

Incised celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over incised decoration


Acquired by Wetzel in Seoul, Korea on his 1916 trip (Interrante).

50

Figure 38. Celadon Circular Covered Box, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Small Circular Bowl with Crane, Cloud, and Floral Decor

Korean, Koryŏ dynasty, first half of the thirteenth century

Inlaid celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over decoration inlaid in black

and white slips


Acquired by Wetzel in Seoul, Korea on his 1916 trip (Interrante).

Small, Flat, Circular Covered Box with Floral Decor

Korean, Koryŏ dynasty, probably late eleventh century

Incised celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over incised decoration

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.206.A-B

Acquired by Wetzel in Seoul, Korea on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (Interrante).

51

Section 3: Denman Ross: a Mentor’s Influence

Figure 39. Nakamura, Kanji. Denman W. Ross. 1928. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,

Harvard Arts Museums. Web. 15 March 2016.

Denman Ross: a Mentor’s Influence

Ross, an influential collector, was broad and encyclopedic in his acquisitions, however he had

specific interests in a few subject areas, one of which was textiles. Under his mentoring,

Wetzel adopted Ross’s tastes in textiles along with his love for Asian and Islamic art.

Japanese art scholar Tomita Kôjirô said of Denman Ross “One of his closest friends was

Hervey Wetzel, much younger than he but whom the Museum hoped would eventually

develop tastes similar to those of Dr. Ross.”

The objects exhibited here are a sampling of Wetzel’s textile collection bequeathed to the

museum. Fragments of brocade, embroidered tapestry, gold-weaved fabrics and ceremonial

robes spanning several centuries are a few examples of the textiles that ultimately made up

one-third of his original collection.

52

Figure 40. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation E (includes figure 41).

Figure 41. Three Cords With Tassels, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

53

Cord with Tassels

Japanese, Edo period, nineteenth century

Braided and knotted purple silk cord with fringed tassels


Cord with Tassels


Braided and knotted green silk cord with fringed tassels


Cord with Tassels


Braided and knotted red silk cord with fringed tassels


54

Figure 42. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation F (includes figure 43).

Wetzel’s quest for collecting textiles is seen as the direct influence the established collector

Denman Ross had on his young protégé. Under Ross’s mentoring, Wetzel adopted his tastes

in textiles along with his love for Asian and Islamic art. Wetzel’s textile collection is also

significant because it represents the continued shift in the collecting practices of Boston

museums, which began in the late 1870s; the acquisition of utilitarian objects and the move

away from acquiring only Euro-centric artifacts.

55

Figure 43. Blue and Gold Robe, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Blue and Gold Robe

Japanese, Kamakura period, 1185-1333

Textile


56

Figure 44. Gallery I, Section III, Plan of Elevation F (includes figures 45-50).

Close to one third of Wetzel’s collection is textiles and range from 15th century European

velvet brocades to a 19th century roundel of Chinese origin shows his range in interest with

the genre and the scope included in his collection. The fragment of blue velvet seen here is

considered of significant value and was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in

1914.

57

Figure 45. Fragment of a Tapestry, Harvard Arts Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Fragment of a Tapestry

Chinese, Ming to Qing dynasty

Silk


58

Figure 46. Rose Brocade, Harvard Arts Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Rose Brocade

Turkish, Ottoman period, sixteenth century

Textile


59

Figure 47. Roundel With Dragon and Phoenix, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Roundel with Dragon and Phoenix Decor

Chinese, Qing dynasty, nineteenth century

Embroidered silk


60

Figure 48. Japanese Brocade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 49. Indian Brocade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Japanese brocade, white ground, light green and violet design

Japanese

Silk


61

Figure 50. Fragment of Blue Velvet, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Brocade

Indian, sixteenth century

Textile


Fragment of Blue Velvet

Italian, third quarter fifteenth century

Cut and voided velvet


62

Figure 51. Gallery I, Section III, Elevation G (includes figures 52 and 53).

Wetzel acquired these Nŏ costumes, robes used in classical Japanese dance-based theatre

performances, during his second and last trip to Japan. Although traveling with a companion

other than Ross at the time, Wetzel’s collecting and the way Ross’s highly articulated sense of

aesthetics and appreciation for textiles in turn shaped Wetzel’s sense of taste.

63

Figure 52. Nŏ Dance Dress, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 53. Nŏ Costume, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Nŏ Dance Dress, Green and Gold

Japanese

Silk


64

Nŏ Costume (Kariginu)


Silk with gold


65

Figure 54. Gallery II Plan, includes Elevations H-P.

66

Section 4: Collecting Pioneer

Figure 55. Notes on Arabic Manuscripts by Hervey Wetzel from Box HUC 8915.304. Harvard

University Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Bruce Williams, Personal

photograph. 14 Mar. 2016.

Collecting Pioneer

Wetzel not only built upon what the previous generation of Boston’s collecting pioneers had

set out to do--amass the finest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan--he was also intent

on doing the same with Persian art.

Wetzel, along with Denman Ross and Isabella Stewart Gardner, began collecting Islamic art

at a time when there was very little attention to or scholarship on the subject. By 1914,

Wetzel was studying Persian and Mohammedan Art at Harvard, teaching himself Arabic, and

had become an associate at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the fields of Persian and

Indian art.

Denman Ross said of Wetzel “His plan was to devote himself and his income to making the

Persian Collection the best in the world’. Over fifty percent of his collection would

eventually be of Islamic or Indian origin, comprised mostly of books and manuscripts. The

objects in this section reflect Wetzel’s significant contributions to Boston’s Islamic and Indian

collections.

67

Figure 56. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation H (includes figures 57-59).

Figure 57. Folio of Battle Scene, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

68

Figure 58. Painting of Prince, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Battle Scene, folio from an album

Persian, Safavid period, sixteenth to seventeenth century

Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper


Calligraphy illuminated with birds (recto); Calligraphy illuminated with waqwaq scroll and

painting of prince (verso)

Persian, fifteenth century



69

Figure 59. Folio Scene in a Palace, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Scene in a Palace, folio from an album

Persian, Safavid period, sixteenth century



70

Figure 60. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation I (includes figures 61-64).

After being offered the position of Curator of Persian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,

Wetzel immersed himself with great enthusiasm. Books and manuscripts made up the

majority of Wetzel’s original collection. Some 159 pieces would be eventually gifted to the

Fogg Art Museum, while fifteen went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

71

Figure 61. Rashnavad Battles the Rumis, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Rashnavad Battles the Rumis (painting, verso; text, recto), illustrated folio from a

manuscript of the Great Ilkhanid Shahnama (Book of Kings)

Persian, Ilkhanid period, c. 1330-1340



72

Figure 62. The Constellation Serpentarius, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

The Constellation Serpentarius (painting, recto and verso), illustrated folio from a

manuscript of the Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib by al-Sufi

Persian, fifteenth century



73

Figure 63. Bird Illustrated Folio from Nazhat, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Peacock (painting, verso); Bird (painting, recto), illustrated folio from Nuzhat’ namah-I

Alai of Shahmardan ibn Abi al-Khayr

Persian, Safavid period, 16th century



74

Figure 64. Female Cupbearer Illustrated Folio from Kitab, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Female Cupbearer (painting, recto; text, verso), illustrated folio from a manuscript of Kitab

fi Ma'rifat al-Hiyal al-Handasiya (Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices)

of al-Jazari

Arab, Mamluk period, 1354

Ink on paper


75

Figure 65. Gallery II, Section IV, Plan of Elevation I (includes figures 66-69).

76

Figure 66. Persian Rose Brocade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Rose Brocade

Persian, Qajar period, nineteenth century

Textile


Wetzel’s interest in Persian art goes beyond collecting, in 1916, he entered the doctoral

program at the Harvard Graduate School to study “Persian” and “Mohammedam” art. He also

began simultaneously studying Arabic to aid him in his studies and work. Included here

among illustrated manuscripts are examples of Wetzel’s calligraphy demonstrating his interest

and efforts.

77

Figure 67. Folio 71 from a Quran, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Figure 68. Notes on Arabic Manuscripts, Harvard University Archives, Cambridge,

Massachusetts. Bruce Williams, Personal photograph. 14 Mar. 2016.

Folio 71 from a Qur'an: Sura 8: 1- begin 9 (recto), Sura 8: 9-19 (verso)

Persian, Safavid period, sixteenth to seventeenth century


Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.168.71

78

Figure 69. Folio from a Quran: Sura 28, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Notes on Arabic Manuscripts by Hervey Wetzel

United States, February 11, 1916

Ink on paper

Harvard University Archives, HUC 8915.304

Wetzel’s translation notes of Arabic manuscripts while studying Persian and Mohammedan

art at Harvard.

Folio from a Qur'an: Sura 28: begin 85 - mid 86 (recto), Sura 28: mid 86 - end 87 (verso),

left-hand side of a bifolio

Arab, thirteenth to fourteenth century

Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on parchment

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.157.1-2

79

Figure 70. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation J (includes figure 71).

Figure 71. Steel Persian Melon, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Web. 12 Apr.

2016.

80

Figure 72. Gallery II, Section IV, Elevation K (includes figures 73-76).

Melon

Persian, nineteenth century

Steel, gold inlay

On loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Mrs. Albertine W.F. Valentine,

residuary legatee under the will of Hervey E. Wetzel, 19.635

Acquired by Wetzel on his 1912 trip with Denman Ross (“F.V.P.” 42).

81

Figure 73. Portrait of a Ruler, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Figure 74. Courtier, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Portrait of a Ruler (Nadir Shah?)

Indian, nineteenth century



82

Figure 75. Portrait of a Man With a Staff, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Portrait of a Man With a Staff

Indian, Mughal period, eighteenth century



Courtier

Indian, Mughal period, c. 1720



83

Figure 76. Gudarz Slays Piran, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Gudarz Slays Piran, Illustrated folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by

Firdawsi

Indian, Sultanate period, fourteenth to fifteenth century

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper


84

Section 5: Wetzel the Cultural Entrepreneur

Figure 77. Photograph. Hervey E. Wetzel Memorial Exhibition: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

Art, 1931 from File 1.27. HC 22. Harvard Art Museums Archives, Harvard University,

Cambridge, MA.

Wetzel the Cultural Entrepreneur

In addition to his curatorial work in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Fogg Art

Museum, Wetzel loaned objects to cultural institutions throughout the country, wrote articles

on Persian and Indian paintings, and served on international committees promoting the arts.

In many ways Wetzel represented Boston’s cultural milieu to the world through his

participation in such enterprises. Through his financial means and motivated by municipal

pride, Wetzel positioned himself as a member of institutional high culture within the short

time. He purchased two adjoining houses in Boston’s Louisburg Square to house his growing

collection with the intention of turning them into a small museum. Objects in this section

were selected and arranged by Wetzel for his last exhibition on Japanese, Chinese, and

Korean art at the Fogg Art Museum in 1918, just before leaving for Paris to serve in World

War I. The eclectic mix of artifacts exemplify Wetzel’s curatorial decisions to displaying

disparate objects together so as to stress their essential beauty as opposed to emphasizing

cohesion of style or origin.

85

Figure 78. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation L (includes figure 79).

86

Figure 79. Standing Amida Nyorai, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Standing Amida Nyorai (Amitåbha Buddha) and Lotus Flower Base

Japanese, Muromachi to Momoyama period, circa 1600

Lacquered wood covered with kirikane (cut gold)


87

Figure 80. Gallery II, Section V, Plan of Elevation L (includes figures 81-85).

88

Figure 81. Circular Ink Cake, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Circular Ink Cake with Decoration of a Lion Playing with a Brocade Ball

Chinese, Qing dynasty, nineteenth century

Ink with molded decoration and molded inscriptions on base and edge; edge inscription reads

“Hainan Songmei Dongpo fa zhi”


Wetzel’s endeavors would eventually land him a curatorial position at the Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston in 1918. Yet despite the fact that he held no official position at the Fogg Art

Museum, he seems to have exerted a great deal of influence on a particular exhibit, to the

extent that he essentially curated it, demonstrating his influence as collector and curator. The

objects included in this section were selected and arranged by Wetzel for his last exhibition on

Japanese, Chinese, and Korean art just before leaving for Paris to serve in World War I.

Included with an array of some of those objects is the catalog from the 1918 exhibit. The

exhibition would later be recreated in 1931 at the Fogg Art Museum. The image included on

the section panel is a documentation of the recreated 1931 exhibit showcasing Wetzel’s

curatorial and stylistic choices, as it would have been seen in 1918.

89

Figure 82. Exhibition Pamphlet, Harvard Art Museums Archives, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bruce Williams, Personal photograph. 8 Mar. 2016.

Exhibition Pamphlet of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Art

United States, 1918

Paper

Harvard Art Museum Archives, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, File 3220, HC6.

In 1918, Wetzel curated an exhibition for the Fogg Art Museum of objects from his

collection. A recreation of this exhibition took place in 1931 as a memorial to Wetzel.

90

Figure 83. Twenty Four Globular Blue Glass Beads, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Figure 84. Jade Cylindrical Ring, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Twenty Four Globular Blue Glass Beads

Korean, Three Kingdoms period, probably Silla kingdom, sixth to seventh century

Semi-clear cobalt-blue glass; reportedly from Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel, 1919.123.A-X

91

Figure 85. Circular Covered Box With Lotus Decor, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Jade Cylindrical Ring, Possibly a Bracelet, with Stylized Lotus-Blossom Decor

Chinese, Jin dynasty, 1115-1234

Variegated grayish nephrite with brown markings


Small Circular Covered Box with Lotus Decor

Chinese, Song period to Yuan dynasty, probably thirteenth century

Qingbai ware: molded porcelain with pale sky-blue glaze


92

Figure 86. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation M (includes figures 87 and 88).

Figure 87. Folio from a Quran: Sura 10: end 107, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


93

Figure 88. Folio from a Quran: Sura 10: mid 109, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Folio from a Qur’an: Sura 10: end 107 - mid 108 (recto), Sura 10: end 108 - mid 109

(verso), right-hand side of a bifolio

Arab, Abbasid period, c. 850

Ink and gold on parchment


Folio from a Qur’an: Sura 10: mid 109 - end 109, left-hand side of a bifolio

Arab, Abbasid period, c. 850

Ink and gold on parchment


94

Figure 89. Gallery II, Section V, Elevation N (includes figures 90-95).

Besides taking collecting trips abroad, Wetzel wrote articles, designed exhibits, served on

international committees promoting culture and art, and loaned objects from his own

collections to various museums throughout the country. As early as June of 1914, just two

years after his first collecting excursion, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston held a special

exhibition titled, “Objects From the Collection of Mr. Hervey E. Wetzel” in the prominent

Forecourt Gallery. The exhibition displayed broad and varied artifacts from around the world.

95

Figure 90. Water Buffalo Ritual Vessel, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Ritual Vessel in the Form of a Water Buffalo

Chinese, Shang dynasty, fourteenth to eleventh century BCE

Cast bronze with olive-green patina


96

Figure 91. Sake Bottle, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Figure 92. Deep Tea Bowl, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr.

2016.

Rectangular Sake Bottle with Decoration of Landscape

Japanese, Edo period, eighteenth to nineteenth century

Ceramic: Blue-and-white ware


97

Figure 93. Fragment of a Figurine Representing an Underworld Spirit, Harvard Art Museums,

Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Fragment of a Figurine Representing an Underworld Spirit

Chinese, Jin to Yuan dynasty, thirteenth to fourteenth century

Enameled Cizhou ware: Light gray stoneware with clear glaze over white slip ground, the

decoration painted in underglaze brown slip and overglaze red, green, and yellow enamels.


Deep Tea Bowl with Ribbed Decor

Japanese, mid Edo period, circa eighteenth century

Black Satsuma ware: black earthenware with black and brown glazes


98

Figure 94. Bowl with Foliate Rim, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3

Apr. 2016.

Circular Bowl with Foliate Rim and Scrolling Lotus Decor

Chinese, Song dynasty, Northern Song period, eleventh to early twelfth century

Ding ware: porcelaneous white stoneware with iveory-hued glaze over incised and carved

decoration, the unglazed rim bound with brass. From the Ding kilns at Quyang, Hebel

province.


99

Figure 95. Wooden Head of a Guardian Figure, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Wooden Head of a Guardian Figure

Japanese, Kamakura period, seventeenth century

Cypress wood with traces of pigment: multiple block construction


100

Section 6: Wetzel’s Legacy

Figure 96. Marin Mower, Hervey E. Wetzel. 1917. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Harvard

Art Museums. Bruce Williams, Personal photograph. 23 Nov. 2015.

Wetzel’s Legacy

In 1918, shortly after Wetzel was named Curator of Persian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts,

he halted all his collecting and curatorial work to serve the United States in World War I.

Later that year, while managing the Paris Red Cross Department of Permits and Passes,

Wetzel succumbed to pneumonia at the age 30. In his will, he bequeathed collections and set

aside financial support to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Fogg Art Museum “to be

used for the purchase of important works of art of rare beauty.” The Fogg Art Museum

received approximately 300 objects, accounting for nearly two-thirds of Wetzel’s total

collection. At that time, Wetzel’s financial gift provided Fogg Art Museum director Edward

Forbes with his first significant acquisition funds. Previous to Wetzel’s gift, the Fogg

curators were forced to build its collections through happenstance. These funds allowed

Forbes to realize his vision of a museum made up of primarily original works of art. The

objects in this section are the pieces acquired by Forbes with Wetzel’s bequest.

101

Figure 97. Gallery II, Section VI, Elevation O (includes figures 98 and 99).

102

Figure 98. Fra Angelico, Christ on the Cross, the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist, and Cardinal

Torquemada, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Fra Angelico

Italian, c. 1395-1455

Christ on the Cross, the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist, and Cardinal Torquemada,

c. 1453-54

Tempera on panel

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museums, Hervey E. Wetzel Bequest Fund,

1919.34

103

Figure 99. Head of King, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Head of a King (from the left portal of St. Denis)

French, c. 1137-1140

Limestone

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museums, Hervey E. Wetzel Bequest Fund,

1919.30.A

104

Figure 100. Gallery I, Section VI, Elevation P (includes figures 101 and 102).

Although Wetzel’s enterprises were short-lived, his contribution to Boston’s cultural standing

is of considered significance. Like many of his Boston contemporaries, such as Denman Ross

and Isabella Stewart Gardner, Wetzel devoted his adult life to building an art collection and

had a keen interest in shaping the course of museums in Boston; however, his role as

collector, curator, and benefactor has been mostly overlooked in comparison to his

contemporaries. This exhibition commemorates the role he played in achieving that standing

by marking the centennial of his death. Wetzel's profound desire to serve society and to

spread the knowledge and appreciation of what he considered best in life and art is evident in

the extraordinary collection that he assembled. His collection not only added to the breadth of

the museums’ collection in specific areas, his posthumous funding altered the trajectory of the

Fogg Museum with the unprecedented ability to purchase the specific works of art displayed

here. Wetzel’s legacy is still experienced today, many textiles from the recent 2014 Quilts and

Color exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston were acquired through funds from the

Wetzel Collection fund.

105

Figure 101. Simone Marini, Christ on the Cross, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,


Simone Martini

Italian, c. 1284-1344

Christ on the Cross, c.1340

Tempera and gold on panel

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museums, Hervey E. Wetzel Bequest Fund, 1919.51

106

Figure 102. Unknown Artist, Saint Dominic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Web. 3 Apr. 2016

Unidentified artist

Italian

Saint Dominic

c. 1240 with later additions

Tempera and gold on panel

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museums, Hervey E. Wetzel Bequest Fund, 1920.20

107

Appendix B

Exhibition Object Checklist

108

Appendix B (continued)

109

Appendix B (continued)

110

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Trask, Jeffrey. Things American. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. Print.

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---. Last Will and Testament of Hervey E. Wetzel. 4 Mar. 1918. TS. The Museum of Fine Arts

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---. Letter to Mary Lee. Box 48 Folder 9. MC 587 Papers of Mary Lee, 1891-1982. Schlesinger

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Hervey Wetzel: The Making of a Collector, the Making of a ... · Fourth, in line with Wetzel’s...

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