THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
AS A BUYER OF PICTURES
A\ individual is in comfortable circumstances
.■. iien, above his income for necessary e.\
■ penses, he has a margin to spend as he
■s The case of a museum :s similar; with this
me. that what are luxuries to the individual are
"■I the museum. It has other needs. ■ — efficient
d: - ■ ion, public support, commodious buildings, and
:. 'Reliance fund. — and these are intimately coii
i with the question of its spending, capacity,
'he first time since it received its charter m
Metropolitan Museum of New York is in the
! being equipped with provision for all these
\<>t that the provision is complete there is no
lO the in-eds of a great museum such as this;
i 1 from its situation m the leading city of the
the chief entrance gate of the New World and
1 for biw.ness and pleasure of citizens from
rts of the country, lias a national as well as
to iportanee Tins fac tis evidently recognized by
ti. reseat management, whose policy is to "feel
n .. future m tlie instant " For the development
'here 1^ no quick sure system; haste must
be • tde slowly, and achievement must wait on op-
It is in its power to seek out the latter
ze :i when found, that the Metropolitan Muv
1 now favorably equipped. The Rogers fund 01
« ;!hon doßan gives n an animal purchasing
1 \ of smut- tlinv hundred thousand dollars
museum ]«i>y^s other funds available for
i .ses; but those are 1 . .mparatively insignificant.
— the capital aggregating about seventy thousand
«1 ■ --anil their general usefulness is impaired
i fact that they are restricted Their income
ha to l>e expended in certain Specified directions.
I- cast- of the Rogers fund, however. DO re-
Str: • 'tis whatever are cnioined: the income is to
I- M in tiie purchase of nicies of art, but abso-
I il tlie discretion of the management T<«>
nn: ' tress cannot be laid on this point; for one
mi/ • !:nost say that money s<> given is twice given,
tly 1- its value to The general puqioses of the
mv [temforoed-
The Committee in Control
T^HK final control of all the museum purchases is
vested in .1 committee which consists of Darius
O. Mills, Robert W. d. Forest. Daniel C. French.
William M. Lallan, and Henry Walters. In addition
to tht-se. J. I'ierpont Morgan, president, is cx-ofiicio
her of this committee, as of all others, and the
director^ Sir Caspar I'urdon Clarke, and the assistant
director, Edward Robinson, are ex-ofiicio advisor}"
Members This body acts upon the recommenda
tions made to it by the several committees that have
in charge the management of various departments
.Thus questions connected with the purchase of
pictures would in ordinary course reach it through
the recommendations of the committee on paintings.
This is composed of Darius O. Mills. Charles Stewart
Smith. Rutherford Stuyvesant. George A. I learn.
and Frederick l)i<-lman' The last named occupies
bis ;!),,,, on this committee, as also his ex-mjjici*
Scat ''ii the board of trustees, by virtue of !>eing
president of the National Academy of Design. He is
?!so a memlHxof the committee on sculpture, which
'"■. ;! * s '!;• - ulptor I».,in.] C. French. Edward I).
Adan: - William Church <>,Im, ,- and Charles F.
McKim the architect. There are corresponding
committees, respectively, on objects of art. oriental
antiquities, and casts and reproductions.
The principle of selection for the membership of
Front Vicv. •! the Mu-cum tr..m Fifth- Aye.
these various committees is excellently adapted to
secure pra> tical and sound results. Where the sub
ject of the committee penmts. as in the case of
painting, sculpture, and casts, one member at least
is .i practising professional artist ; among the other
members are amateurs who are collectors and stu
dents, specially qualified in the particular branch;
'he expert advice of the director and assistant direc
tor is available on any committee; lastly, each of the
various committees contains at least one member
\ ho is also a member of the committee on purchases.
As a general basis of expenditure, a portion of the
Miinual income is allotted to each of the departments:
but in practice it is proposed to apply this principle
with discretionary elasticity. Thus, if the demands
of any department are particularly urgent, or its
opportunity of meeting them exceptionally ad
vantageous, there would be no hesitation in tem
porarily encroaching upon the appropriations of the
other departments.
Problems for the Management
AT present, one of the problems before the man
agement concerns the scope ol its policy. There
are two classes which a great museum may serve;
on the one band, a comparatively small one. seeking
Special expert instruction, and oil the other, the
great mass of the public, whose need combines gen
eral information and intelligent enjoyment Col
lections that are amply sufficient for The latter may
easily be too scrappy in detail and superficial or nar
row in scope for the expert student: while, on the
contrary, what would satisfy his requirements
might offer a dry spectacle to the general public.
At ]> resent, for example, a great deal of valuable
space is occupied by theCesnola collection of Cyprian
pottery Possibly this long drawn out array of
specimens, many of them duplicated, may be of
value to experts; but the average- visitor, even -up
posing he starts with some curiosity and examines
a few examples, will 1»e likely to file past the remain
der with languid if any interest
So two questions occur: Does the gain to 'he ex
pert justify the loss to the public: and. if so. could
'h<- gain be secured at less cost of exhibition space?
In one form and another this conflict of interests is
perpetually confronting the management. It enters
into the treatment of every subdivision of exhibits;
I. has to be faced in the determination of a general
policy. Shall the scope be primarily archeological
or esthetic: an attempt at historical completeness
wherein every period of a given subject IS exhaust
ively represented, or a selection 'hat i- based upon
the quality of beauty?
Handling the Money
•"pi 1 E income from the Rogers fund is received quar
*■ terly, and the museum's purchasing power is,
nominally at least, limited to this amount and to such
balance as may be in hand from previous instal
ments; for the whole amount available i> not neces
sarily used 'I he aim of the management is not to
spend :ts money, but to secure what is deemed ad
visable. For this purpose it husbands its resources
against the day when an opportunity for a desirable
purchase arrives Meanwhile it does not wait for
• .p;i- -rHinities, but employs means to seek them
i'.r example, the duties of Roger Fry, the curator
<>! paintings, includes a few months' attendance
each year at the museum, spent in supervising the
condition of the pictures and their manner of display;
5
By Charles H. Caffin
but the greater paii of his time is passed in Europe,
• itching the market, petting in touch with sources
>f possible yield, following up clues, and getting
ready at i moment's notice to capture the quarry he
has run down Similarly, on behalf of general
antiquities, another man. with headquarters in
England, travels on the Contineni .1- the museum's
ageni He was for many years occupied in this
capacity for the Boston Museum of Pine Arts; hut
followed the fortunes of his friend Robinson and
with the latter transferred his allegiance t<» the Met
ropolitan Museum These two agents keep in « ux'
touch with the committees assigned t<> their re
.|kvii\v departments, which pass upon their cum
munications and report their own conclusions to the
committee on purchases
Offieriatf -Old Masters"
X/f i- VXWHILE there are other sources of oppor
■*■ *■ tunity to purchase Oneofthem is represented
• , the receipt of letters from private individuals,
iffering 'old masters" thai have been heirlooms for
main generations They come from Europe, from
every part of North and South America, in a con
tinuous bombardment It you call upon the director
it my time, he can point tooneor more that have
been just delivered for scarcely a day passes without
its quota. George II Story, curator emeritus, who
kept careful records during his term of active office,
relates that he received an average of three letters a
day for seventeen years; that, as far as possible, he
made a point of investigating every offer, and out
of some eighteen thousand opportunities of secur
ing a masterpiece, could not advise the museum to
take advantage of one.
Nor are all of these correspondents such simple
Souls as might l>e expected in the premises. Many
of them, though ignorant in the matter of pictures,
are shrewd enough along general lines Often it is
only an indorsement of their pictures that they are
seeking to obtain. They are angling for a reply
that, while it regrets the museum's inability to pur
chase, shall contain some alleviation in the form
of the "evident value" or "apparent authenticity"
of the picture. This will properly impress the neigh
bors with the importance of their treasure. On the
other hand, if their intentions are mercenary, the
letter can be used to influence a probable purchaser
in their own locality, or even some dealer in one of
the big cities. Or the transaction may have been
opened by correspondence with a dealer After
much dickering, he may be brought to the i>oint of
making a low bid. The fait is then used as a lever
on the museum. "I have an offer from the well
known dealer. Mr X. but would prefer that the
picture, which has never been out oi our family,
should find a permanent home in a «roat institution,
such .1- the Metropolitan Museum
Dealing with Collectors
ON the other hand, in these days, when the general
market has been so thoroughly raked over, the
best source of opportunity comes from the private
colic, tor. Now that the museum is known to he in a
position to purchase works of art, collectors wishing
to part from their treasures, or executors having the
disposition of estates, will notify the museum, giving
it a chance to buy the collection in a l>loek or of
selecting from it It is usually from abroad that
such offers arrive; and here comes in the question of
the tariff. The latter allows the importation, free
of duty, of all works of art that are !xin;i tide the
property of public educational institutions. This
cover- the case of pictures purchased in Europe by
the museum, or such as may be presented to it by
donors living abroad It further extends the im
munity from duty so as to include the case of col
lections «>r individual works of art imported by the
museum on approval The museum executes a bond
ujh>ii them, pledging itself to notify the Govern
ment of what, if anything, it retains, and to make
itself responsible lor the exportation of what it does
not. or at least to return the others into the custody
of the Government ; for occasion may arise that the
owners will offer them to some other institution.
or dispose of them to a dealer, the latter, of course,
paying the duty.
It is in such a case as the latter, or when the deafer
imports direct and afterward offers his wares to some
museum, that the tariff begins to work injury to the
institution; for another source of Opportunity is
provided by the enterprise <>f the dealers. They or
their agents SCOUT the world and bring their finds to
this country If they have previously notified the
museum of such and such a work and obtained its
iMiiMiit to a consignment on approval, presumably
such an article would have the privilege of coining in
under the museum's bond Hut such is not the
usual procedure The rule is for the dealer to import
at his own risk of subsequently rinding a purchaser,