Page 19 - Studio International - June 1965

Editorial

Only a few years ago in the pages of The Studio Indian Section's sumptuous treasure has been put into
appeared a series of articles entitled ·Museums or storage except for the cream in the museum proper.
Mausoleums' in which several of the British public Of an even greater endowment and of an even more
collections and their houses underwent a scrutiny. The general i naccessi bi I ity are the incomparable resources
object of the survey, incomplete though it was, had its of the British Museum. Its function has been described
purpose in discerning whether or not the museum/art as the advancement of learning by the provision of
gallery was fulfilling its true function in displaying its materials and facilities for research. While it is true there
treasures to the best of public enjoyment. By and large, is exhibition of select material in the public galleries, it
the results were disappointing, the staffs and trustees of is not always to its best advantage. The Duveen Gallery,
museums that were the subjects of criticism resented it, specially designed (it is said) to hold the breathtaking
as some appeared to resent even the public who wished Elgin Marbles, is probably the most inadequate siting
to take advantage of the amenities furnished. There is no imaginable for stone carvings that stood suspended in
evidence that the galleries. such as that at York, which the pure space of the Aegeian sky for centuries.
earned deserving praise were visited by the officials of But who knows how best to display the works of art we
less worthy establishments to see how it was done. possess 7 Museum officials of the more enlightened,
A recent visit to Paris brought to our notice in the less Civil-Service-frustrated type, who go abroad and
Musee de l'Homme a superlative exhibition of ninety see what French, German and Italian galleries, public
masterpieces from its collections which highlit a and private. can do-but they are few and hamstrung by
question that has long concerned us. Is in fact our miserable budgets. Certainly not architects. Economic
national treasure so slight that it requires constant space-fillers have been their concern for so long, they
addition or, like Fort Knox, is it not already so well have lost the way of seeing function in the form. How
endowed that it resembles an iceberg in that most of it is little they know about displaying art was made
so well concealed beneath the surface most people lamentably clear by the pointless. tasteless and generally
forget that it is there? incredible setting designed for the 'British Sculpture in
To consider how well concealed the treasure is it is the Sixties' exhibition organised by the Contemporary
only necessary to think of the Musee de !'Homme Art Society recently at the Tate Gallery. Let it be added
exhibition. Magnificent though it was and devoted only immediately that none of the Tate's staff were in any
to the arts of so-called primitive civilizations of Africa, way responsible. They and most of the sculptors and
America and Oceania, it is probably true that an all the honest critics were equally appalled.
exhibition of similar calibre could have been mounted What is undoubtedly required in each museum holding
from the resources of the British Museum. Yet even in the national collections-especially the British Museum
Paris the cost of mounting the exhibition and defraying -is a special exhibition room in which each month an
the expenses of producing the really splendidly exhibition of masterpieces is mounted. Not just picked
informative and evocative catalogue was met by the out and put up but displayed by an expert, lit, catalogued
generosity of a committee under the presidency of and carpeted with all the attendant trimmings to induce
Baroness Alix de Rothschild. Admission was charged euphoric conditions of appreciation. The joint benefits
and yet every day people queued for admission. of the spotlight and the microscope are required to
Such is the panic created in small corners when a enjoy works of art. With all the joys we possess, the
Rembrandt is sold at public auction to an American very rich hours belong to us. Instead of spending more
buyer, an ingenuous ignoramus would assume (a) that to extend their catalogues, the galleries should purchase
Great Britain was being denuded of its most priceless the ability to let us see better only a fraction of what we
cultural objects and (b) that Rembrandt was a native have; if they do not, we may forget we have it. ■
painter with an output as small in number as that of
Vermeer.
The question, of course, is one of display. The wealth
is here in quantities scarcely guessed at. In the Victoria
and Albert Museum, to be sure, the primary collections
display with a relative judgment some of the best
examples in the world of such rarities as Italian Gothic
and Renaissance sculpture. Oriental pottery and
porcelain, medieval and Renaissance jewellery and
English domestic silver no less than the unique donation
of works by John Constable.
Yet the submerged bullion is ofno less startling a calibre.
To cite the most obvious example one stands amazed
at the number of prints and drawings in the Victoria and
Albert: more than 500,000 items. Over half a million
pieces of paper and many by masters yet only a few
can be shown at one time. The rest can be consulted by
students-and for the love of art we are all students­
provided they know the specific artist and work they
wish to study. The National Art Library is housed on the
top floor of the Museum with a reference collection of
more than 300,000 books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
Yet how many people know it is there or that it is the
largest art library in the world.
Studio International
Volume CLXIX No. 866 Since the building in the Imperial Institute Road has
June, 1965 been demolished to make way for the new college, the
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