FORBES DISCUSSES PROGRESS OF FOGG

The results of the experiments which the Fogg Museum has been conducting as to the value of the X-ray for determining forgeries, mannerisms of old artists which cannot be seen on the surface of a painting, and for various other facts in the field of the Fine Arts leave no doubt as to the value of this medium. This was brought out by Professor E. W. Forbes '95, Director of the Fogg Art Museum in his annual report to the President.

"In my last report", wrote Professor Forbes, "I referred to the experiments in the X-raying of paintings carried on by Alan Burroughs, Class of 1920, formerly of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This work has been continued through the year with most satisfactory results. About three hundred pictures have been photographed at the Museum,--pictures painted on different backings, wood, canvas, or other materials, and in different media-oil or tempera. Modern forgeries have been X-rayed to test suspicions which had previously existed: mannerisms of the old artists which cannot be seen on the surface of a painting have been brought to light: and retouching and changes in design while a painting was in process have been revealed. In this connection we have been aided by the excellent piece of work which was done by J. Lloyd Bohn of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory, with the help of Clarence A. Brodeur, Class of 1927.

"Perhaps the most absorbing interest

Buildings Progress Rapid

of the year has been the new building. In my last report I stated that the concrete foundation was 'nearing completion'. During the year the construction has made remarkable progress. Practically all the structural work is now completed. Externally the building appears in substantially its final state. Internally much of the shell is still visible, though the major operations of plastering, painting and flooring are going ahead rapidly. The progress made during the summer months has been such as to warrant the expectation that the Museum will be finished in time for us to open it next spring.

"Naturally a large part of the Director's time during the past year has been spent on matters relating to the building. Conferences with the architects have been held frequently, to meet new problems which have presented themselves and which have sometimes demanded a change in plan. The decision was made to build the court--the principal architectural feature of the interior--of Italian Travertine. Early in the spring of 1926 an opportunity arose to purchase a very beautiful, early sixteenth-century French wooden ceiling which had originally been a part of a house in Dijon. This is admirably suited to the large hall on the main floor. Several generous subscriptions have helped us to meet these added expenses.

"Mr. Warner, Class of 1903, Mr. Jayne, Class of 1919: and other members of the second expedition to China returned in 1925,--Alan R. Priest. Class of 1920, a member of this same expedition remained in Pekin for purposes of study. Dr. Goldman has carried on her excavations in Eutresis, Boeotia. Her work is practically finished and will be published in due time. Dr. Chase visited the site of her excavations in April, 1926, and was very much impressed with the work which has been done."