FOGG MUSEUM TO RECEIVE GIFT OF JAPANESE PRINTS

A whole department may be said to have been added to the Fogg Museum with the gift of over 3,000 Japanese prints that have just been presented by a group of anonymous donors. This collection, formerly owned by Dr. A. B. Duel of New York, is one of the largest in the country, and many of the items are of great rarity and beauty.

Together with the prints, the Museum has received Dr. Duel's valuable library of books on the subject. A catalogue prepared by American and foreign scholars accompanies the collection, which is now being classified and arranged in cases. Later this month, a small public exhibition will be held consisting of a selection from the outstanding examples.

No Strings Attached

The terms of the new gift provide that the officials may alter and expand the collection at their own discretion. This form of gift, which is none too usual, makes a living collection possible which will be susceptible of growth and modification, in short the most valuable and instructive kind of a public museum or an educational institution.

In the past, students have been largely dependent on the Japanese prints in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Harvard students will now be in a position to study and enjoy their own treasures.

The collection consists in part of a representative group of primitives, some very fine examples by Harunobu, and is unusually strong in actor prints by such masters as Shunsho, Buncho, and Shungei. There are also about a dozen portraits by Shiriau, as well as a large group of Surimono, (small prints for special occasions) by Hokusai, Hiroshige, Toyokuni, Utamaro, and others.