Foggy Days In Cambridge Town

MY ROOMMATE magnanimously offered to pay the $1.50 student entrance fee on her first visit to the Fogg Museum freshman year. "That's alright, honey," said the woman at the door, smiling kindly, "you're already paying $17,000." And so she was. And so we all are. And yet so many students have never been to the Fogg, let alone the Sackler or the Busch-Reisinger (whose collections temporarily are being housed at the Fogg due to renovations).

Surely it is now time for us to overcome any silly prejudices we may harbor against art museums. So what if we were all dragged to them kicking and screaming time beyond number in our infant days. Now is different. If you still don't like them no one is going to make you stay. But you will like it and you will stay. In fact you will probably be charmed beyond your wildest expectations. Few know it, but the Fogg is probably the best reason to be at Harvard. Some even claim it is the only reason.

NOT ONLY is the Fogg itself a building of great whimsical charm, being vaguely neoclassical on the outside and surprisingly Italmate on the inside, but it also houses a collection for which many of the great museums of the world would give their proverbial eye teeth. At present several of the Fogg's outstanding collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings are on display, including a super group of recently restored Rossettis. For those who favor pouting, melancholy women, this should be just the thing, especially as they are displayed alongside detailed descriptions of how they were painted and--a cheering thought for all would-be artists--how often Rossetti had to repaint them.

There are also more than enough works of the Impressionists to satisfy their most ardent fans Renoir, Degas. Manet--the Fogg has works by the whole lot. That is to say nothing of Rembrandt and the other Flemish hordes. some great modern painters and lots of wonderfully gruesome religious art. You can even go and gaze adoringly at Picassos should you wish to do so. Whatever your tastes the Fogg can cater to them; sumptuous nudes or tully draped Madonnas, tranquil still-lives or colorful battle scenes, sculpture or painting, ancient or modern, whatever takes your fancy.

The Fogg is an absolutely failproof way to forget that you are at Harvard and about as frazzled as the appalling weather and your failing academics can make you. Its interior has a sunny but peaceful Mediterranean charm that at least allows you to pretend its warm outside. And on those truly horrid days you can always go and look at Toulouse-Lautrec's "The Hangover" whereupon you will undoubtedly be much consoled. And if even that doesn't work you may go and empathize with Van Gogh's absolutely terrifying self-portrait.

You can even go up to the drawing room and ask to handle the drawings of your favorite artists. Large blue folders will be handed to you and you alone. They're much more interesting than the average doodles you have so much opportunity to observe in your sections. And just think of the opportunities they offer for polite conversation. "Sargent," someone will say, and you will be able to reply, "well, the last time I was handling his drawings..." You have to admit it sounds good.

THE FOGG also has an extensive art and photography library which makes a nice change from Lamont, which, incidentally, is the most hideous building in the Western Hemisphere. As Alice pointed out "what are books without pictures and conversation." The Fogg library is well equipped to satisfy your need for both. Lastly, for those who prefer their media mixed, there are also free chamber music concerts at 6 p.m. and gallery talks at 7 p.m. on the museum collections every Thursday evening.

In any case, the Fogg is well worth several lengthy if leisured visits. It is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. When academia has lost its charms and the conversation of your peers palls, retire and amuse yourself in the the Fogg's quiet and tranquil halls. Then you can return to your house secure in the knowledge that you have done your bit for culture at Harvard.