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Item 16: Baltimore Sun Coverage
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Item 16: Baltimore Sun Coverage
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Item 16: Baltimore Sun Coverage
File Format:
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Description
Identifier
wcmfa047
Title
Item
16
:
Baltimore
Sun
Coverage
Transcript
Hagerstown's
New
Museum
of the
Fine
Arts
: A
former
Resident
Provides
Washington
County
Town
with
Building
Worthy
of
Larger
City
By
KATHERINE
SCARBOROUGH
A
Museum
of
Fine
Arts
,
architecturally
charming
and
filled
with
paintings
and
sculpture
which
would
do
credit
to
discriminating
metropolitan
institutions
,
is
scarcely
an
orthodox
appurtenance
of a
small
inland
American
city
which
numbers
its
population
at
little
more
than
30,000
inhabitants
.
Such
a
possession
,
however
,
actually
is
the
portion
of
Hagerstown
and
is
the
gift
of a
former
resident
,
Mrs
.
William
H
.
Singer
,
Jr.
,
whose
husband's
reputation
as a
landscape
painter
of the
first
rank
extends
over
two
continents
.
Before
her
marriage
Mrs
.
Singer
was
Miss
Anna
Brugh
,
daughter
of the
elate
Peter
A.
Brugh
and
Amelia
Irving
Brugh
.
FORMAL
PRESENTATION
The
Museum
has been
presented
to
Hagerstown
and
Washington
county
in
memory
of
Mrs
.
Singer's
parents
and will be
turned
over
formally
to the
municipal
and
county
authorities
by a
committee
of
local
men
and
women
headed
by
Mrs
.
William
H
.
Hamilton
,
Jr.
,
[sic]
Which
has
spent
more
than
three
years
in
intensive
preparation
for the
event
.
Every
detail
of the
project
, from
consultation
with the
architects
(Hyde
&
Shepherd
, of
New
York)
to the
hanging
of the
last
picture
has been
supervised
by the
committee
in the
absence
of
Mrs
.
Singer
,
whose
home
is
in
Norway
and
who
has been
unable
to
come
to
America
to
give
it
her
personal
attention
. The
results
of the
committee's
efforts
,
however
, are
all
that the
most
meticulous
donor
might
ask
.
IDEAL
SETTING
Admirably
set
in the
cup
of a
hill
in the
city
park
(which
in
itself
is
rated
by
Park
Internationale
as
one
of the
two
most
beautiful
parks
within
city
limits
in the
United
States)
, the
museum
appears
to have
grown
naturally
on the
ground
some
fifty
feet
back
from the
rock-studded
edge
of the
lake
,
where
white
swans
are
decoratively
in
evidence
.
The
entrance
to the
building
faces
the
driveway
rather
than the
lake
, but
before
reaching
the
doorway
the
approaching
visitor
sees
the
semicircular
rotunda
overlooking
the
water
and the
satisfying
end
facade
, with its
richly
colored
bricks
,
limestone
quoins
at the
corners
and
classical
balustrade
.
IN
CLASSICAL
SCHOOL
Architecturally
, the
building
is
of the
classical
school
expressed
in the
Georgian
manner
so
apposite
to the
Maryland
Scene
.
IT
is
designed
to
permit
the
erection
of
additional
harmonious
units
as the
museum
may
grow
, but the
present
structure
is
complete
in
itself
.
Maryland
brick
were
used
for the
wall
, with a
binder
which
was
achieved
after
much
experimentation
for
color
and
which
, in the
changing
lights
and
shadows
,
blends
with the
brick
and
limestone
trimming
almost
like
a
tapestry
.
Before
the
double
doors
there
is
an
uncovered
limestone
portico
. The
doors
, of
solid
walnut
fitted
with
brass
knobs
,
open
into a
small
vestibule
with a
terrazzo
floor
,
green
in
tone
, with
brass
pin
lines
dividing
the
diamond-shaped
blocks
. The
baseboard
is
of
green
marble
,
beautifully
veined
, and the
plaster
of the
walls
is
mixed
to
resemble
Caen
stone
of a
soft
pink
tone
.
SCULPTURE
COURT
From the
vestibule
another
set
of
heavy
walnut
doors
,
half
glass
,
opens
into the
Sculpture
Court
which
extends
through
the
center
of the
building
to the
rotunda
on the
lake
front
. The
walls
of this
room
repeat
the
tones
of those in the
vestibule
. The
four
doorways
leading
out
from the
sides
of the
court
are
recessed
slightly
into
archways
which
form
semi-circular
panels
above
each
of the
doors
,
affording
an
admirable
setting
for
cartouches
or
plaques
which
may
, at
some
time
, be
exhibited
.
There
is
an
ample
space
on the
side
walls
and
over
the
doors
at
each
end
to
permit
the
exhibition
of
large
tapestries
and
rugs
and there
is
also
room
for
cabinets
for the
display
of
smaller
objects
of
art
. From the
center
of the
ceilings
hangs
a
single
bronze
electric
fixture
which
dispenses
properly
distributed
and
diffused
light
.
Occupying
the
place
of
honor
in the
center
of the
Sculpture
Court
is
a
meter-high
reproduction
in
bronze
of
Paul
Bartlett's
Lafayette
, the
original
of
which
stands
in
front
of the
Louvre
in
Paris
,
having
been
given
to
France
by the
school
children
of
America
.
Against
the
walls
stands
Gutzon
Borglum's
Lincoln
,
Rodin's
Head
of
One
of the
Citizens
of
Calais
, in
terra
cotta
, and
several
Rodin
bronzes
,
all
placed
on
plinths
of
walnut
made
especially
to
receive
them as
well
as to
fit
into the
setting
.
TIBETAN
ART
On the
walls
of the
Sculpture
Court
hang
ten
magnificent
Tibetan
pictures
,
religious
in
subject
and
developed
in
strange
reds
,
blues
and
greens
, the
colors
apparently
symbolic
, for they are
repeated
in
every
picture
. This
collection
,
which
is
one
of the
few
of its
kind
in
existence
, has been
declared
by
Mrs
.
George
Drexel
, of
Philadelphia
, and
expert
on
Tibetan
art
, to be
particularly
fine
.
To the
left
of the
Sculpture
Court
, as
one
enters
the
building
,
is
a
cloak
room
which
may
also
serve
as a
small
exhibition
room
.
Next
is
the
Print
Room
,
quite
modern
in
style
, with a
mirrorlike
floor
,
black
window
trim
and
aluminum
walls
. This
room
is
used
as a
setting
for
Chinese
and
Japanese
prints
,
blacks
and
whites
, and
exhibits
of
similar
character
.
On
each
side
of the
Sculpture
Court
and
connected
with
it
by
wide
doorways
are the
main
exhibition
rooms
. The
Walls
are
covered
with
Japanese
grass
cloth
of a
grayish
tan
color
which
blends
with the
Caen
stone
effect
of the
Sculpture
Court
.
Concealed
moldings
make
it
possible
to
hang
pictures
without
using
nails
and to
display
those of
different
sizes
at
different
heights
without
marring
the
walls
. The
lighting
of the
rooms
,
both
natural
and
artificial
, has been
arranged
so
that
shadows
and
glare
are
eliminated
.
THE
INITIAL
COLLECTION
The
initial
collection–which
the
building
was
designed
to
house–includes
, in
addition
to the
pictures
and
sculpture
mentioned
,
canvases
by
American
and
foreign
painters
whose
work
is
definitely
modern
.
Only
one
painting
by the
donor's
husband
,
whose
work
is
to be
found
in
eight
museums
in this
county
and
Europe
,
hangs
in the
building
. This
represents
a
Norwegian
landscape
,
which
is
Mr
.
Singer's
acknowledged
metier
, and was the
gift
, not of the
artist
himself
, but of
R
.
Bruce
Carson
, to
whom
the
artist
had
presented
it
before
the
museum
took
form
.
Other
pictures
include
the
work
of
such
men
as
Childe
Hassam
,
Maurice
Fromkes
,
Louis
Paul
Dessar
,
H
.
Golden
Dearth
,
Jacob
Dooijewaard
,
J
.
B
.
Johgkind
,
Sigourd
Skou
, a
Norwegian
American
;
Gaston
La
Touche
,
whose
large
canvas
Fete
Espangole
,
is
one
of the
highlights
of the
collection
;
Israel
Israels
and
M
. A.
J
.
Bauer
,
who
delights
in
Oriental
subjects
and
is
represented
both
in
water
color
and in
oil
.
ASSEMBLY
ROOM
In the
basement
of the
museum
there
is
a
large
assembly
room
where
illustrated
talks
on
various
phases
of
art
are
held
both
for
adults
and
school
classes
. Here also are
held
exhibitions
of
student's
work
and of
amateur
photography
of an
artistic
character
. This
room
is
so
situated
that
it
is
possible
to
use
it
without
opening
the
rest
of the
building
.
Other
basement
rooms
are
designed
so
that
objects
of
art
may
be
brought
into the
building
,
unpacked
,
cleaned
if
necessary
and
dispatched
by
elevator
to the
exhibition
halls
without
being
carried
though
the
rest
of the
building
. In the
basement
,
too
,
is
a
modern
air
conditioning
system
which
insures
the
even
temperature
of the
humidity
necessary
for the
preservation
of
works
of
art
.
Plans
for the
museum
as an
expression
of
Mrs
.
Singer's
affection
for the
place
of her
birth
were
made
tentatively
some
four
years
ago
in
New
York
at a
dinner
which
took
place
during
an
exhibition
of
Mr
.
Singer's
work
in that
city
.
Upon
the
return
to
Hagerstown
of
several
residents
who
had
attended
this
affair
a
committee
was
formed
to
handle
the
details
and
superintend
local
matters
connected
with the
gift
. In
addition
to
Mrs
.
Hamilton
, the
chairman
, this
committee
included
Miss
Mary
L
.
Titcomb
,
R
.
Bruce
Carson
,
Lynn
K
.
Brugh
(Mrs
.
Singer's
brother
who
died
last
winter)
,
William
T
.
Hamilton
Jr.
,
Henry
Holzapfel
,
Harry
R
.
Rudy
,
J
.
Stewart
Miller
,
Robert
McCauley
,
John
S
.
Kausler
and
John
B
.
Ferguson
.
FIRST
PROBLEM
The
first
problem
to be
met
was the
acquisition
of a
maintenance
fund
which
would
enable
the
museum
to
function
in
accordance
with the
single
stipulation
made
by
Mrs
.
Singer
in
connection
with her
gift
: that
admission
to
it
be
free
to the
public
at
all
times
. The
Board
of
County
Commissioners
agreed
, at the
instance
[sic]
of the
committee
, to
appropriate
annually
$5,000
for this
purpose
. This
figure
was
matched
by the
city
and the
committee
was
able
to
go
ahead
with the
assurance
that
operating
expenses
had been
provided
.
The
citizens
of
Hagerstown
have
demonstrated
their
approval
of this
expenditure
by
visiting
the
museum
in
large
numbers
,
more
than
16,000
having
passed
through
its
doors
since
they were
first
opened
to the
public
.
PIONEER
WORK
As an
institution
which
belongs
to the
county
as
well
as to the
city
the
museum
has
undertaken
a
work
of
pioneering
which
will
extend
its
benefits
beyond
the
confines
of
Hagerstown
.
An
automobile
has been
secured
to
carry
pictures
and
lantern
slides
to
school
and
parish
houses
in the
rural
sections
,
where
they will be
explained
by
competent
speakers
.
Hagerstown's
first
traveling
library
was the
first
of its
kind
in the
country
and
it
is
known
from
coast
to
coast
for the
excellence
of its
work
. The
new
peripatetic
museum
undoubtedly
will
evoke
similar
applause
for its
effort
to
open
new
horizons
to those
cut
off
by
circumstances
from
city
life
and its
cultural
opportunities
.
Creator
Scarborough, Katherine
Subject
Anniversaries
Art museums
Hagerstown (Md.)
History
Washington County (Md.)
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (Md.)
Description
Newspaper
article
.
Detailed
description
of
Hagerstown's
Museum
shortly
after
it
opened
.
Publisher (Electronic Version)
Western Maryland Regional Library
Holding Institution
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
Date Original
1932-04-10
Date Digital
2006-02-07
Type
Image
Format
Digital reproduction of 1-page newspaper article, 43 x 29 cm.
Source
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
Relation
Is Part Of Washington County Museum of Fine Arts - a history
Is Part Of WHILBR, Western Maryland's Historical Library
Coverage
1931-1940
Rights
Copyright Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Permission to reproduce or publish this item is required and may be subject to copyright, fees, and other legal restrictions.
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