Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/annualreportofmu1915muse MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON FORTIETH ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1915 BOSTON T. O. Metcalf Company 1916 1 CONTENTS PAGE Trustees of the Museum 5 Officers and Committees for 1916 6 The Staff of the Museum 10 Report of the President 1 Minute on the Death of John Chipman Gray ... 23 Report of the Treasurer 25 Annual Subscribers for the current year ... 51 Report of the Director 75 Reports of Curators and others : Department of Prints 84 Department of Classical Art 96 Department of Chinese and Japanese Art . 101 Department of Egyptian Art in Department of Paintings 114 Department of Western Art : Textiles 127 Other Collections 131 The Librarian 14 The Secretary of the Museum 150 The Supervisor of Educational Work .... 155 Report of the Committee on the School of the Museum 168 Publications by Officers of the Museum 174 Index of Donors and Lenders 175 TRUSTEES OF THE MUSEUM Named in Act of Incorporation, Febncary 4, 1870, or since Elected CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT February 4, 1870 DENMAN WALDO ROSS January 17, 1895 HENRY SARGENT HUNNEWELL January 19, 1899 CHARLES SPRAGUE SARGENT January 18, 1900 FRANCIS LEE HIGGINSON January 18, 1900 MORRIS GRAY January 16, 1902 EDWARD WALDO FORBES April 28, 1903 A. SHUMAN January 17, 1907 THOMAS ALLEN April 15, 1909 THEODORE NELSON VAIL January 19, 1911 GEORGE ROBERT WHITE January 19,1911 ALEXANDER COCHRANE . January 16, 1913 AUGUSTUS HEMENWAY January 16, 1913 WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD ENDICOTT .... January 21, 1915 GEORGE PEABODY GARDNER May 6, 1915 WILLIAM ENDICOTT May 6, 1915 Appointed by Harvard College WILLIAM STURGIS BIGELOW, 1891 JOHN TEMPLEMAN COOLIDGE, 1902 ROBERT BACON, 1912 Appointed by the Boston Athenaum JOSEPH RANDOLPH COOLIDGE, Jr., 1899 ALEXANDER WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 1904 HOLKER ABBOTT, 1909 Appointed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology RICHARD COCKBURN MACLAURIN, 1909 EDWARD JACKSON HOLMES, 1910 ROBERT SWAIN PEABODY, 1912 Ex Officio JAMES MICHAEL CURLEY, Mayor of Boston, 1914 JOSIAH HENRY BENTON, President of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1908 FRANKLIN BENJAMIN DYER, Superintendent of Public Schools, 1912 DAVID SNEDDEN, Commissioner of Education, 1909 ABBOTT LAWRENCE LOWELL, Trustee of the Lowell Institute, 1900 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES FOR 1916 MORRIS GRAY, President FRANCIS LEE HIGGINSON, Treasurer ARTHUR FAIRBANKS, Director BENJAMIN IVES GILMAN, Secretary of the Museum FRANK HERBERT DAMON, Assistant Treasurer STANDING COMMITTEES Committee on the Museum The DIRECTOR, Ex Officio , Chairman The PRESIDENT, Ex Officio The TREASURER, Ex Officio THOMAS ALLEN WILLIAM STURGIS BIGELOW ALEXANDER COCHRANE JOHN TEMPLEMAN COOLIDGE DENMAN WALDO ROSS GEORGE ROBERT WHITE Committee on the School of the Museum of Fine Arts The PRESIDENT, Ex Officio The DIRECTOR, Ex Officio THOMAS ALLEN Finance Committee The PRESIDENT, Ex Officio ALEXANDER COCHRANE The TREASURER, Ex Officio GEORGE PEABODY GARDNER GEORGE ROBERT WHITE VISITING COMMITTEES A dministration ARTHUR FREDERIC ESTABROOK, Chairman ABBOTT LAWRENCE LOWELL WALLACE LINCOLN PIERCE A. SHUMAN FRANK GEORGE WEBSTER Mrs. ROGER WOLCOTT Classical Art JOSEPH RANDOLPH COOLIDGE, Jr., Chairman Mrs. WALTER SCOTT FITZ EDWARD WALDO FORBES WILLIAM AMORY GARDNER Mrs. JOHN MUNRO LONGYEAR Mrs. FRANCIS CABOT LOWELL BELA LYON PRATT Mrs. NATHANIEL THAYER Mrs. EMILE FRANCIS WILLIAMS Prints GEORGE PEABODY GARDNER, Chairman GORDON ABBOTT Miss KATHERINE BULLARD WILLIAM MAURICE BULLIVANT Mrs. THOMAS JEFFERSON COOLIDGE, Jr. ALLEN CURTIS HORATIO GREENOUGH CURTIS PAUL JOSEPH SACHS CHARLES COBB WALKER FELIX MORITZ WARBURG Egyptian Art AUGUSTUS HEMENWAY, Chairman Miss MARY SHREVE AMES FRANCIS WRIGHT FABYAN Miss HELEN C. FRICK DAVID GORDON LYON JOSEPH LINDON SMITH Chinese and Japanese Art EDWARD JACKSON HOLMES, Chairman Dr. WILLIAM STURGIS BIGELOW RALPH ADAMS CRAM Mrs. ERNEST BLANEY DANE Mrs. FRANCIS LEE HIGGINSON, Jr. WILLIAM STUART SPAULDING Mrs. WASHINGTON B. THOMAS Mrs. GEORGE TYSON BAYARD WARREN Mrs. CHARLES GODDARD WELD JAMES HAUGHTON WOODS Department of Paintings THOMAS ALLEN, Chairman HOLKER ABBOTT ALEXANDER COCHRANE ROBERT JACOB EDWARDS Mrs. ROBERT DAWSON EVANS Mrs. WALTER SCOTT FITZ DESMOND FITZGERALD EBEN DYER JORDAN EDMUND CHARLES TARBELL GEORGE ROBERT WHITE Western Art: Textiles Dr. DENMAN WALDO ROSS, Chairman Miss FRANCES GREELY CURTIS Dr. JOHN WHEELOCK ELLIOT LINCOLN NEWTON KINNICUTT Mrs. BAYARD THAYER CHARLES JEPTHA HILL WOODBURY Western Art: other Collections JOHN TEMPLEMAN COOLIDGE, Chairman Mrs. GEORGE RUSSELL AGASSIZ FRANCIS HILL BIGELOW WILLIAM CRO WNINSHIELD ENDICOTT Mrs. ROBERT FREDERICK HERRICK Mrs. MAYNARD LADD JOHN ENDICOTT PEABODY DUDLEY LEAVITT PICKMAN HENRY DAVIS SLEEPER CHARLES HITCHCOCK TYLER Library CHARLES KNOWLES BOLTON, Chairman HOLKER ABBOTT Mrs. HENRY DENISON BURNHAM CHARLES KIMBALL CUMMINGS Mrs. CHARLES PELHAM CURTIS ALEXANDER WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW EDWARD PERCIVAL MERRITT Mrs. HORATIO NELSON SLATER Miss HARRIET SMITH TOLMAN The President of the Museum is ex officio a member of all the Visiting Committees. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT, Chairman CHARLES KNOWLES BOLTON Mrs. RICHARD CLARKE CABOT JOSEPH RANDOLPH COOLIDGE, Jr. THEODORE MILTON DILLAWAY FRANKLIN BENJAMIN DYER ARTHUR FAIRBANKS MORRIS GRAY Mrs. HORATIO APPLETON LAMB Miss FANNY PEABODY MASON Mrs. ROBERT SHAW RUSSELL Miss ANNA DIXWELL SLOCUM Mrs. CHARLES EDWARD WHITMORE THE SECRETARY OF THE MUSEUM, Ex Officio , Secretary THE STAFF OF THE MUSEUM DIRECTOR Arthur Fairbanks SECRETARY OF THE MUSEUM Benjamin Ives Gilman ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Morris Carter BURSAR, pro tempore Morris Carter SUPERVISOR OF EDUCATIONAL WORK Huger Elliott REGISTRAR Hanford Lyman Story Department of Prints CURATOR FitzRoy Carrington ASSOCIATE CURATOR Emil Heinrich Richter ASSISTANT Adam E. M. Paff Department of Classical Art CURATOR Lacey Davis Caskey Department of Chinese and Japanese Art CURATOR John Ellerton Lodge KEEPER OF JAPANESE POTTERY Edward Sylvester Morse KEEPERS IN THE DEPARTMENT Francis Stewart Kershaw Kojiro Tomita ASSISTANT Harold Irving Thompson Department of Egyptian A rt CURATOR George Andrew Reisner ASSOCIATE OF THE DEPARTMENT Dows Dunham Department of Paintings KEEPER John Briggs Potter Department of Western Art HONORARY CURATOR Frank Gair Macomber ASSISTANT IN CHARGE OF TEXTILES Miss Sarah Gore Flint ASSISTANT IN CHARGE OF OTHER COLLECTIONS Miss Florence Virginia Paull ASSOCIATE OF THE DEPARTMENT Hervey Edward Wetzel Library LIBRARIAN Foster Stearns ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN Miss Martha Fenderson ASSISTANT IN CHARGE OF PHOTOGRAPHS Miss Frances Ellis Turner Registry of Local Art REGISTRAR Benjamin Ives Gilman Building and Grounds SUPERINTENDENT William Wallace MacLean 1 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT To the Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts: THE ROBERT DAWSON EVANS MEMORIAL GALLERIES FOR PAINTINGS This building was opened formally on February 3, 1915, with an evening reception to the annual sub- scribers and to certain other friends of the Museum; and it was opened for the following week free to all who chose to enter. During this period about twenty thousand people visited the Museum, a number that in itself shows the public appreciation of the impor- tance and the generosity of a gift which added over 40 per cent, to the exhibition space of the Museum. Certainly Mrs. Evans may well feel the satisfaction that only comes to those who render a great public service in a great way. ADMISSIONS The following is a comparative statement of admis- sions for the years 1913, 1914, and 1915: Paid Free Total 1913 25,125 194,625 219,750 1914 19,659 185,450 205,109 1915 19,982 247,229 267,21 The increase in admissions is due doubtless to the opening of the new building and the consequent increase in the number of works of art exhibited. 12 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS The following is a comparative statement of the number of annual subscribers and the amount of annual subscriptions for the years 1913, 1914, and 1915-' Number of Annual Amount of Annual Subscribers Subscriptions 1913 IJ25 $37. 487-00 1914 1,710 38,584.00 1915 1,805 39,758.00 This increase is due presumably to the recognition that the larger service of the Museum entails a larger expense; and it is especially gratifying in a year of much financial distress and of many appeals for very human needs. CURRENT INCOME AND EXPENSES The following is a comparative statement of income and expenses for the years 1914 and 1915 : — 1914 1915 Increase or Decrease Unrestricted Income from Trust Investments $66,113.45 $67,488.97 1. J?i. 375 - 5 2 Annual Subscriptions 38,584.00 39,758.00 1. 1,174.00 Admissions to IOI - 1. I - 00 Museum 4,908.50 5 > 5° 93 Miscellaneous 321.59 370.60 1. 49.01 1. 2 i Total Income $109,927.54 $112,719.07 # . 79 -5 3 Expenses 144.614-33 162,480.91 1. 17,866.58 Deficit $34,686.79 $49,761.84 1. $15,075.05 Less Special Gifts to be Applied to Expenses 21,565.78 15,482.50 D. 6,083.28 Net Deficit $13,121.01 $34,279.34 I. 21,158-33 The large increase in the deficit and in the net deficit is due chiefly to the addition of the running expenses of the Evans Memorial Building, and was forecast in the report of last year. The deficit of this REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 13 year has been made up, necessarily, out of principal of unrestricted funds, as the deficits of other years have been, — a course certainly to be regretted and evidently incapable of long continuance. DEFICITS AND PURCHASES The running expenses of 1915 were $162,480.91. These cannot be reduced materially by added econo- mies. They can be reduced by closing a substantial part of the Museum and by giving up a substantial part of its force. But this would mean a great reduc- tion in the service to the public. Moreover, it would entail presumably a loss of public interest, and it might well cause a diminution in gifts and bequests which would injure the Museum far more than the current deficits do. Certainly this course should be adopted only as a last resort.