[Illustration: Mr. A.A. Carey's
Cambridge, Mass.
_Sturgis & Brigham Archts._]
More than once we have endeavored to impress upon our readers the
importance of collections of casts and other art reproductions as
factors in popular education. It is only through these that the body of
our people can ever hope to become familiar with the great masterpieces
of European galleries, which have had so much effect upon the taste of
the people among whom they exist, and might do a similar good work in
this country were they only brought within reach. Doubtless there are
many who join us in the wish that not only every large, but every small
city might have its gallery of reproductions as well as its public
library--a gallery in which children could grow up familiar with the
noblest productions of Greece and Italy, in which the laborer could pass
some of his holiday hours, and in which the mechanic could find the
stimulus to make his own work beautiful as well as good. But the
principal reason why such collections are not more numerous is probably
that people have an exaggerated idea of their cost, and, among those who
might best afford this, there are doubts as to whether an undertaking of
the kind would be appreciated in any but the large cities.
Thanks to the liberality of Mr. W.A. Slater, the experiment has been
tried in Norwich, Conn., and the results of the first year of the Slater
Memorial Museum in attracting and holding popular interest have far
exceeded the anticipations of its founder and his advisers. As it has
been Mr. Slater's desire that the museum established by him should serve
not only to educate his townsmen, but also to stimulate others who had
the means to follow his example in other parts of the country, he has
given us permission to make public the cost of his collections, which,
we doubt not, will be a revelation to many. In August of last year we
gave a long description of the Slater Memorial Museum, not then quite
completed, from which it was evident that within the lines laid down by
Mr. Slater, by which it was determined that the collection should
contain only reproductions, and no original works, there were no
restrictions as to expense. The works selected were to be the best of
their kind, and were to be set up and arranged in the most effective
manner possible. The number of objects was to be limited only by the
size of the building.
The useful little catalogue of the casts in the Museum, prepared by Mr.
H.W. Kent, the curator, to whom we are indebted for the figures which we
shall quote, shows 124 numbers in the Greek and Roman section, and 103
in that of the Renaissance. Among these are some of the largest casts
made, such as the selection from the Pergamon reliefs, the Nike of
Samothrace and the Font of Siena. They were all made expressly for the
Museum, and imported from London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Florence, Rome,
Naples and Athens. In addition to these, there is a complete collection
of the British Museum electrotypes of Greek coins, handsomely mounted,
and the nucleus of a collection of photographs, about 600, including the
best plates of Braun, Naya, Brogi and other celebrated photographers.
Most of the statues are mounted on revolving pedestals; two hundred and
fifty of the photographs are exhibited in individual frames, the backs
of which are movable, that the exhibition may be varied as often as
desired; and, owing to the lack of wall-space, draperies have been hung
extensively throughout the hall, the material of which is heavy raw
silk. We mention these facts only to show that economy was not a
consideration in the execution of the Museum, and believe that our
readers will be the more surprised to learn that its _gross_ cost to Mr.
Slater--excluding, of course, the building itself--was exactly
$27,112.97. Is there any city or college in the Union in which this sum
could not be raised for a similar purpose?
The cost of the building we do not give, because it would be useful as
showing how much, rather than how little, could be put into such an
edifice. It contains, besides the museum proper, the floor-space of
which amounts to about 10,000 square feet, a lecture-hall with a
seating-capacity of about 1,200, a library and four large class-rooms,
which, if the intentions of the founder are fully carried out, will be
used for practical instruction in the fine arts. Desirable as all these
rooms are in a building of the kind, the only one which seems to us
absolutely necessary is the lecture-hall. To open a gallery like this to
the public, and then leave people to float about in it aimlessly,
without a notion of its meaning or its purposes, is to do but half the
work. Either regular courses of instruction or occasional lectures upon
topics connected with the theory or history of art are necessary in
order to make the Museum anything more than a collection of curiosities
to the uninitiated, and such lectures are given during the winter at the
Slater Museum.
Of the amount just quoted, the principal item was naturally for casts.
The cost of these, including packing and transportation, but not
setting-up in the Museum, was $13,968.68, making an average of a trifle
less than $62 for each number in the catalogue. We ought to say here,
however, that an average is a dangerous guide in a matter of this kind,
owing to the enormous difference in the size and price of casts, as well
as in the distance from which they come. Obviously, too, the cost of
packing and importing a few casts would be proportionately much greater
than in a large order.
The casts once received, they must be put together, sometimes repaired
and finally set up. Pedestals must be built for the statues, wall-spaces
prepared for the reliefs. Therefore, a small force of skilled
plaster-workers and carpenters is necessary. In Norwich most of the
plaster-work was done by two men, a third being added occasionally, and
the aggregate of this item in the expenses was $1,626.75. With regard to
the carpentry, more work of this kind than would usually be necessary
was required by the fact that a number of changes had to be made in
order to adapt the hall to its use as a museum of art, its destination
not having been determined when the building itself was completed.
Consequently, some of the $4,690 paid for material and labor in this
department would form a part of the building expenses in a structure
designed especially for the purpose.
These were the principal expenses in the preparation of the Slater
Museum. On photographs about $800 have been spent thus far, the
electrotype coins cost something less than $750, and the balance of the
total quoted was made up by such incidentals as the draperies and
upholstering, photograph frames, the designer's commission and petty
expenses.
Turning now for a moment to the other side of the balance-sheet, we
shall try to answer the question, "Does it pay" to undertake a work of
this kind, except in our large and central cities? If to the founder or
founders of such an institution it be sufficient recompense for their
liberality to see their gift used, appreciated and enjoyed by people of
all classes, the brief experience of the Slater Memorial Museum answers
the question with a strong affirmative. The Museum was dedicated on
November 22 of last year. Since then it has been open regularly ten
hours a week, divided among three days, and at other times to students
and visitors from a distance. It is always free. There being no
automatic machine for registering the admissions, Mr. Kent has requested
visitors to write their names in a book provided for the purpose. The
number who do so is naturally considerably less than the total number of
visitors, particularly when the Museum is crowded, yet up to date the
books show more than 10,000 names. The average attendance per week thus
recorded, from the time of opening to July 1, was 283, the best month
being December, in which 2,163 names were entered, the poorest June,
with a total of 483. Especially gratifying has been the attendance on
holidays, which shows that the interest in the Museum is by no means
confined to those who have plenty of leisure. On Thanksgiving Day 800
names were registered, Christmas 932, New Year's 732, Decoration Day
850. For the benefit of the mill-operatives and other laborers who form
the largest portion of the population of Norwich and the adjoining
towns, to whom the Museum might do a world of good, we sincerely hope
the day is not far distant when the building may be open at least a
couple of hours each Sunday. The experience of the Boston Museum of Fine
Arts in Sunday opening has been an unqualified success, and we wish that
Norwich, as well as our own city, might profit by it. In Boston, we are
told, the average number of admissions during the Sunday hours has
reached as high as 1,000 per hour, and of these probably four-fifths are
common workmen with their families.
These facts and figures regarding the Slater Memorial Museum are
valuable only so far as they go. They show that the first problem of a
museum--to interest the public at large--has there been solved
successfully. More than that is not to be looked for yet. The ultimate
good which the institution will accomplish can be but imperfectly
manifested in one generation. It is from the children now growing up,
from their children and their children's children, that the deeper
results are to be expected. As the beginning has been made, we can
afford to wait for the rest, which will come in good time. The lesson to
be learned from it now is, that such collections are needed, that they
are appreciated not by a few but by many, and that, so far as the cost
is concerned, they are within the reach of every well-settled
community.--_New York Evening Post._
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