Collections and Critiques

Unusual activity in many lines characterized the first year of existence of the new Fogg Art Museum, according to the recent report of the year 1926-27 to President Lowell by E. W. Forbes '95, director of the Museum.

The process of moving from the old Museum to the new building was an affair of prime importance, but was so conducted that regular work was not interrupted to any considerable extent. Moving was commenced on a small scale in September, 1926, and by the beginning of the second half-year, one course began to hold 'its meetings in the new building. In April the old building was closed to the public except for occasional lectures. The transferring of the collections into the new Museum was accomplished very effectively by a group of men specially chosen for the task.

On June 20 the new Museum was formally opened to the public in a simple but impressive ceremony of dedication held in the court. President Lowell presided over the exercises.

To do honor to the opening of the Museum and to make it an event of nation-wide rather than local importance, a loan exhibition, including pieces from many of the country's most famous collections, was temporarily installed.

During the year, the print department received a notable addition in the form of a fifteenth-century Venetian woodblock, a gift of Elmer Adler '22. A large number of prints were donated to the Museum's collection, strengthening weak spots in the assortment.

The department of photographs and slides was particularly active, cataloguing and re-cataloguing an extraordinarily large number of photographs and slides, and issuing an unprecedented number of them both to men in the division and to those outside.

Many gifts, including several in memory of Charles Eliot Norton '46, were received by the Museum, embellishing the building and adding to the value and interest of the Museum's collections.