When the Institute was first opened, little more than two and one half
years ago, the permanent collection occupied but a small part of the
exhibition space. Since then the collection has increased in size and
importance to an extent that warrants us, we feel, in publishing this
illustrated handbook, which, although intended primarily for the use and
convenience of visitors, at the same time may not be without interest as a
record of accomplishment within so brief a period. This rapid development
of our collection has been made possible, first of all, by the great
liberality of numerous friends, but it has been facilitated by firm
adherence to a well defined policy in respect to acquisitions. This
policy is based on two cardinal beliefs. The first is that an art museum
is of the greatest value to a community when its collections embrace both
the major and minor arts of all countries and all times. The second is
that the standard must be high. It would be idle to pretend that every
object in our collection is a masterpiece of the highest order, but it is
better to have an ideal, which may not be wholly realized, than to have
none.
Through the munificent bequest of William Hood Dunwoody, the Institute has
had for its purchases the income of one million dollars. Several important
paintings have come to the Institute through the bequest of Mrs. W. H.
Dunwoody (_Child with Cherries_, _Landscape with Cattle_, _Fording the
River_). In memory of their mother the late Mrs. Thomas Lowry, Mrs.
Gustav Schwyzer, Mrs. Percy Hagerman and Horace Lowry have made a welcome
gift of paintings and other works of art (_Tapestry, Hunting Scenes_,
_Large Embroidered Hanging_, _The Conversion_, _The Scouts_). Among the
numerous gifts must be instanced the Ladd Collection of Prints, the gift
of an anonymous donor (see the _Print Department chapter_); the Charles
Jairus Martin Memorial Collection of Tapestries, the gift of Mrs. C. J.
Martin (_Hunting Party with Falcons_, _Two Scenes from the Story of
Esther_, _Joseph, Ruler over Egypt_, _Virgil Appearing to Dante_); the
Martin B. Koon Memorial Collection of Contemporary American Paintings, the
gift of Mrs. C. C. Bovey and Mrs. C. D. Velie (_Luxembourg Gardens at
Twilight_, _The White Bridge_, _River in Winter_, _Garden in June_, _The
Open Sea_, _The Yellow Flower_, _Night’s Overture_); the Bradstreet
Memorial Collection of Japanese Art, the gift of Mrs. Elizabeth B.
Carleton and Mrs. Margaret Kimball (_The Bradstreet Room_, _Color Print by
Yeizan_, _Carved Panel_); and the Cast Collection, the gift of Russell M.
Bennett (see the _Cast Collection_ chapter). The Oriental collection has
been enriched by a gift of Chinese porcelain from Mrs. E. C. Gale
(_Chinese Porcelain_), and by a collection of Japanese paintings and other
material from Charles L. Freer (_Tiger_). Valuable paintings and other
works of art have been given by James J. Hill (_Landscape_, _The Storming
of Tel El Kebir_, _Napoleon’s Retreat from Russia_, _The Roe Covert_),
Mrs. Frederick B. Wells (_The Bath_, _Woodland Scene_, _River Scene_,
_Mother and Children_), James Ford Bell (_Madonna with Saints_), T. B.
Walker, and others to whose generosity the Society of Fine Arts is greatly
indebted.
In the preparation of this handbook, I have been aided by Mr. Harry B.
Wehle, Assistant to the Institute Staff, who is responsible for the notes
on XIX Century and modern art. My part of the work, except for general
supervision, has been confined to the earlier periods.
September 12, 1917.
JOSEPH BRECK, Director