$4 Million Gift Donated to Fogg

The Fogg Art Museum has received a $4 million bequest which will almost double its endowment. The museum's previous endowment fund was $5,118,444.

The gift, the largest in the museum's history, came from the estate of Archibald Alexander Hutchinson'14. When Hutchinson died in 1949, he willed a collection of 17th-and 18th-century silver to the Fogg and allocated $500,000 for a new wing.

He left the remainder of his estate in three life trusts for relatives and friends with the stipulation that the money be given to the Fogg upon the deaths of the beneficiaries. The museum received the $500,000 allocation in 1953; the present gift is the remainder of the life trusts.

The money will be used for acquisitions as well as restoration and improvement of the building and collections. Peter A. wick, assistant director of the Fogg, said yesterday. He noted the possibility that part of the fund might b used to establish professorships or to increase course offerings.

Wick noted that the bequest was "far and away the largest" -- in terms of money -- that the museum has ever received. It has, however, been given other sizeable collections, he said. He cited in particular the Winthrop, Wertheim, and Sachs collections.

The money will probably be used for "all the purposes of the museum," Frederick B. Deknatel, William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts, predicated yesterday. The bequest is "a great windfall," he added.

Seymour Slive, professor of Fine Arts, said that the museum's plans for the use of the money remain indefinite since, "we don't usually spend four million dollars."

Silver Acquired in 1950

The silver collection acquired in 1950 contains 357 pieces representing the works of about 100 British and American artists from the period of James I to George III (1603-1820). John P. Coolidge, director of the Fogg, has noted that this is "the era of greatest distinction in the art of British silversmiths."

Wick aserted that although other Boston museums have larger silver collections, they are not of the same caliber. "This is a collection of quality, of quantity," he remarked.

The collection is housed in the wing donated and named for Hutchinson.