The Museum (Jackson)/Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI
Official Questions
HOURS OF OPENING
IT is the custom in this country for art museums to be open on week days from 10-5 and on Sundays from 1-5, while certain of our richer institutions provide for an occasional or regular evening opening continuing from 5-10 P. M., or in special instances from 8-10. The reasons for this choice of hours are that few visitors arrive before 10.30 or 11 and the custodians come at 8, which gives about two hours for the necessary janitor service before they have to go on duty. At 5 o'clock the light begins to fail at most seasons of the year. Sunday morning brings few visitors. A museum of any size finds it impossible to get enough janitors' work done before ten to keep the building clean. It is therefore customary to close for a half-day during the week. Monday morning seems to be the time when the museum is least frequented, and is a very convenient day to choose because after the Sunday crowds there is much to be done. It is a great convenience for the staff to have a half-day free from visitors, as in changing exhibitions or rearranging cases the short time before the opening of the museum is often not enough to permit of completing any large task. It is to be expected that there will always be people who will be "unable to come at any other time" and that very often, possibly every Monday, a small group of visitors will have to be conducted through the building by a member of the staff.
The question of an evening opening is a mooted one. In every city there will be one or more zealots who will write letters to the newspapers and to the trustees stating that a museum should not be an institution for the idle rich only, but there should be a chance as well for the working man with his family to visit and enjoy the collections. To your answer of Sunday afternoon he will reply: "The working man should have his Sunday out of doors. He does not want to be hived up in a building in the daytime." If you yield to his entreaty and take pity on the working man, you will probably find that your expensive evening opening, when you pay your men double for overtime and have your lighting to arrange for, has been brought about for a group of fifteen to twenty of your regular constituents! The habit of visiting an art museum in the evening has not been formed, and the moving picture show, where a man can sit at ease in his arm-chair and be amused, is much more attractive than the art museum. A far better method is to arrange for evening openings on special occasions such as, for instance, a visit from the Y. M. C. A. or Y. W. C. A., or for some big group of business men and women such as belong to the commercial clubs or similar organizations. In other words, let the museum make use of the clubs and gain the friendship of the community through its catholic hospitality.
There has been a very serious discussion of the effect of light upon collections and, while the art museum is, in this respect, less subject to harm than the scientific museum, there are yet certain groups of material that do suffer from continual exposure, and these should be protected by dark curtains or some other device, and never subjected to direct sunlight. In these classes are miniatures, water colors, textiles, embroideries, colored prints and Oriental paintings. For the sake of these departments, which are, after all, not the most important in any museum, it does not seem necessary to restrict the opening of the instiution to the public, as is advocated by certain scientific museum directors (see Dr. A. B. Meyer, "Bericht," containing a description of metal curtains at the windows of the Dresden Museum and an important discussion of the effect of light on collections. This is continued by Dr. Bather in Museums Journal, vol. II, p. 320).
Less frequent openings are sometimes necessary in a small museum greatly hampered with lack of funds, but the fewer the days of opening, the more expensive each one becomes because the cost of "accommodation" service is much greater than hiring by the week or month.
ADMISSION FEES
A valuable document has been published on this subject by Henry Lapauze, "Le Droit d'Entree dans les Museés," S. F. d'Im. et de Librairie, 15 rue de Cluny, Paris, 1902. For many reasons here in America it is deemed wise to charge admission on certain days in the week. The number of free days depends on the generosity of the museum. Two are pretty generally given, Saturday and Sunday, while certain museums add Wednesday, and others even more. There are numerous advantages in having pay days. Our American museums depend largely for their maintenance on the support of their membership, and in order to induce a man to spend good money to join the museum you must show him that he is going to get something out of it. It is therefore customary to grant certain privileges to members. These include the right to free admission on pay days for himself and his family and house guests, free admission to lectures given by the museum, the receipt of the museum publication, and invitations to receptions given on the occasion of the opening of exhibitions or other events of a similar character. And just here let it be said in passing that to make the museum a social centre for all classes of the population of a city is a necessity if the largest function of the institution is to be fulfilled. Exclusive affairs to attract the moneyed classes, on whom the museum must depend for support, and democratic affairs to which the social settlement groups are invited, must be arranged by the up-to-date director.
Another reason for charging admission is to be found in the desirability of having certain days upon which classes can be held in the galleries or copyists given permission to work without too greatly interfering with the circulation of the public or in turn being disturbed by too many visitors.
The amount of the fee to be charged must always depend upon local conditions. Twenty-five cents is the usual sum chosen in America, on the principle that a person would think twice before spending fifty cents but that twenty-five is not too much. In this day of ten-cent moving picture shows it is an open question whether an admission charge of ten cents might not bring a larger attendance. In this connection it will be remembered that at the Deutsches Museum in Munich every visitor pays five cents on the principle that any one who wishes, can pay that much, and that the interest of the man on the street is much greater if he has to pay for what he sees. This contention seems to be justified by the number of visitors who go there and who pay their five cents admission. On the other hand, many of the people a museum most wishes to reach have large families and the payment of even five cents each for a group of six or eight is a consideration.
There is no way in which the museum can gain friends so cheaply and so legitimately as through a generous system of issuing free admission tickets. Artists and workers in decorators' shops, all those whose work should require their frequent attendance at the museum and whose funds might limit these visits should be provided with free tickets. Teachers accompanied by their pupils are almost without exception admitted free. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is very generous in this respect, admitting free, students of the various colleges in the neighborhood who come with proper credentials. The friendly feeling thus created is invaluable and more than offsets the few dollars that might be taken in from these same people if they were required to pay. The receipts for admission fees amount at best to a very small sum, and it is therefore unjustifiable to consider them in comparison to the good which may be done by a generous policy in regard to free tickets.
MUSEUM STAFF
The suggestions here offered in regard to staff are worked out with the problem of the medium-sized museum in mind. No scheme can be formulated that can be rigidly adhered to in all cases. Personality counts largely in museum work and the good administrator may find himself called upon to entirely reorganize his staff for the sake of giving to some one peculiarly brilliant individual in his employ the work he or she is best fitted to do. There is no attempt here to consider the problems that arise with a complicated staff of scientific experts. A spirit of co-operation between all the workers is the essential always and matters more than the exact division of duties.
In the following discussion the distinction is made between the administrative staff headed by the director and composed of all those who are directly responsible to him, whether holding positions of authority or humble clerkships, and the executive staff headed by the superintendent of buildings, which includes all other employees.
Let us consider the character of service rendered in an art museum. A specialized knowledge along many lines which cannot be gained anywhere but in a museum is a necessity. (See The Man as Museum Curator, Museums Journal, vol. I, p. 185; W. E. Hoyle, Education of a Curator, Museums Journal, vol. VI, p 4; Ernst Berger, Die Aufgaben des Conservators in Unseren Museen, Museumskunde, vol. VI, p. 236; W. Bode, Beruf und Ausbildung des Museumsbeamten, Die Woche, 18, 5, 191 2.) Continued service means increased efficiency. The director must train every new person coming into his employ. Too often, alas, our boards of trustees are not sufficiently in touch with the work of the museum to understand the character of the demands made upon the staff and to appreciate the fact that they are authorizing the payment of salaries so small that no permanent efficient help can be obtained. Whereas nearly every business man insists upon a high grade of efficiency in his heads of departments and expects to pay salaries in proportion to the training, pericnce and brains that he is hiring, the museum trustee, not understanding the exactions of the position, will offer his director a salary that he would not consider giving a man of similar ability in his private employ. This is accepted because the director has some private means or is so devoted to his work that he considers only the big possibilities for service in the new position. Next, not understanding the necessity for accurate work and specialized knowledge on the part of the director's stenographer, the sum of $40 to $60 per month is set aside to pay this salary. The director finds himself required to teach his assistant many things, such as style, set up, accuracy in the use of accents in quoting from foreign languages, and where to get information in regard to museum needs, and often has to put up with inferior shorthand and typewriting ability which is a handicap to him in his work. There is no one little thing that creates more enemies than a delay in replying to letters, and few laymen realize the quantities of mail that come every day to a museum. There are innumerable objects offered for sale which must in most cases be carefully investigated for fear there may be something of value lost to the museum by a too hasty refusal on the part of the director. Then there are many letters from artists who desire to arrange for exhibitions, there is a small number of applications from persons seeking employment, and there is an enormous amount of detail in arranging for any exhibition of the work of a group of artists which requires much correspondence with the painter, the owner of the picture, the insurance agent, etc. If there is a school connected with the museum, the requests for catalogues and advice are without end. But by far the most difficult to answer and the most important part of the museum correspondence comes from the groups of individuals or clubs which are seeking for help in an effort to attain culture through the study of art. To know just how to treat a tender young plant of this kind, to nourish it and strengthen it and train it into useful paths is one of the most important duties of a museum director. The slightest interest in any field of art if properly fostered may bear wonderful results.
The staff of a small museum must necessarily vary with the needs of the collection, but as long as there is an increasing collection, there should be some one besides the director with a technical knowledge of museum subjects. There should be more than one mind represented in the pages of the museum bulletin, and there should be more than one personality to attract people. It is very advisable that the director should have an able assistant who could take his place either in the museum or out of it when he is away. It is frequently necessary for him to take trips to New York or Europe, and there should be some responsible person to take his place. There should be no jealousy between these two people, for their fields are perfectly harmonious and in no way interfere. It is impossible for any one person to make as many friends for the museum as any two people can make. There should always be a second in command to relieve the burdens of the director and leave him free for the important task of spreading the influence of the museum, of arranging for purchases and loans, and for scientific work in connection with museum publications, including catalogues, which require his constant attention.
Another important matter is to provide the director with expert assistance in financial affairs. A trained accountant is of inestimable help. If he is a man of intelligence he may be purchasing agent as well as bursar and attend to securing bids on stenographer's and janitor's supplies and cases, with the proviso, of course, that the final decision in regard to expenditure rests with the director and executive committee. In addition to these duties he will receive all bills, check up the items, find out if goods have been received in good condition, figure out the fund from which they will be paid and make out the necessary vouchers for the signatures of the director and finance committee. Another important part of his work will be the making out of the pay roll and attending to such formalities as may be necessary in the administering of the various funds. All these things are important and if properly attended to will keep one man exceedingly busy in any wide-awake institution. The placing and covering of insurance is another matter that may properly be left to such a man.
Matters pertaining to the membership of the museum and to the issuing of the bulletin, arranging for lectures, accessioning and cataloguing works of art, etc., are other large items in the list of the duties of the director. A museum in the ordinary small town with a population of about 200,000 should have a membership of at least 2,000 persons. In order to attain this, one person should devote her entire time to this alone. There is no reason why this person should not be a woman, and the salary she is paid would easily be made up by the new memberships she should bring in. It should be arranged for her to spend some part of every day in visiting people to tell them of the work of the museum, some part of each day in studying the collections, and some part in working on the lists, correcting mailing list, entering payments, making out membership cards, etc.
A system of telephones in all parts of the building is an absolute necessity and, of course, requires a switchboard with an attendant. This operator, however, except in the case of a large museum like those of Boston and New York, will have time to attend to other matters as well. It is sometimes thought desirable to combine the duties of cloak-room boy and telephone operator but this is not advisable, for the switchboard must be carefully tended and is sure to make demands just at the moment when the largest number of people appear to offer garments to be checked. It is much better to combine the duties of operator with some clerical work of a more or less routine character. Exactly what, is a problem that confronts each museum separately. In Chicago, New York and Boston, well-established museums with a long list of publications, the sale of catalogues and postcards amounts to such a big business that there are special employees to take care of it. In Chicago and New York these attendants also serve as information clerks and ticket sellers. In one museum the offices of ticket seller, information clerk, catalogue and postcard seller and telephone operator were all combined in one person who at times needed an assistant and at other times, notably on pay days, was greatly in need of occupation and able to take care of the cuts and do other clerical work of a similar character. In a museum of moderate size it should be possible to combine the office of cloak-room boy and information clerk and ticket, catalogue and postcard seller to advantage, with the possibility that on certain occasions it might be necessary to give some assistance while on other days the boy in charge would be perfectly capable of running the addressograph machine, stamping and sealing envelopes, or helping in other ways in addition to his regular duties. In this event, the care of the telephone would be in the hands of a clerk who would be occupied in copying articles or reports or other work which did not require her absence from the telephone desk.
The question arises whether the cloak room should be free or not. It is very difficult to control any dishonesty in this department. We have all been annoyed by being told in museums that the cloak-room charge was "whatever you please." Most museums pay a very low salary, $8-$10 per week for this position, and there is absolutely no chance for advancement. The consequence is, that only a very young or very stupid boy who is willing to undertake something temporary, or an old man too feeble to hold a better position can be had. It is conceivable that were the boy taken on young enough and given to understand that he might have some hope of advancement in salary and in work there might be a better chance of getting permanent help, sufficiently interested in the welfare of the institution to be honest and reliable. A certain European museum director once said in regard to cloak rooms that to his way of thinking there should be no charge for obligatory checking, but on the other hand there most assuredly should be a charge for voluntary checking. That is, umbrellas, packages and the like which the rules of the museum do not permit to be carried, should be checked free, but for the checking of overcoats, hats, furs, etc., which the visitor may carry in if he wishes, there should be a small and definite charge. Such a system with a placard clearly printed stating these conditions would obviate any difficulties arising from an attempt to get a small fee on the part of the attendant.
We have, then, our Director, Assistant Director, Bursar, Membership Clerk, Stenographer, Cloak-room boy and Catalogue seller. In addition we need some one to attend to the telephone and a librarian. In any museum there are hectic weeks when every member of the staff rushes madly from early morning till late at night, to do all that needs to be done. Such periods are usually followed by occasions of less strain. The staff, however, must be such that in times of emergency the work can be handled and in dull times there will be enough to keep all busy. The careful administrator will provide for the medium times an adequate force and will study the individuals in his employ so that he knows to whom to turn for extra help when he needs it, and also will keep on hand a large number of routine things that "we will do when we have time" to pass out to his assistants when dull times come. For these reasons it is very desirable that the telephone operator should understand stenography as well as typewriting because in times of stress, when the regular stenographer has all she can attend to, by going to the switchboard and sitting down beside the operator, the director can dictate letters or articles which can be written out in the intervals between calls.
As for the librarian, the need depends, of course, upon the size of the library and the number of visitors. There is little other work that can be accomplished by a librarian because of the necessity for silence. Cataloguing books, slides, photographs, cuts and possibly assisting the director in research work is about all that can be expected of her. It is therefore incumbent upon the director to advertise the library sufficiently to keep his librarian fully occupied in her own department. It is obvious that she can be of little use elsewhere, because during the hours the museum is open, the library is also open, and cannot be left. The painting of the little accession numbers on the objects acquired by the museum can be done by her, and she can legitimately be expected to care for any print collection the small museum may have. In fact, this latter office of Curator of Prints may very well be combined with that of librarian as the knowledge required in both is similar.
The officers so far under discussion belong to the administrative staff and are therefore under the supervision of the director, with the exception possibly of the cloak-room boy, although his duties of catalogue and ticket seller and any sealing or stamping of envelopes he may do bring him under this class. And here a very important point is to be considered and that is, that in any organization, to be efficient each individual must know to whom he or she is to be responsible. The more unintelligent and the less educated the employee, the more necessary it is that he should know that there is only one person from whom he is to take orders. Confusion in this matter is often most upsetting, and yet it is well nigh impossible to remember at all times not to give any orders directly, no matter how much easier it would be. Thus, if the cloak-room boy is considered a member of the executive staff any work that he may be required to do for the clerical part of the administrative staff must be given him through the head of the executive staff. As, however, most of his duties fall under the head of administrative staff work it is simpler to consider him in this class.
One other member of the staff stands in a doubtful position, and that is the "gallery man," as he is called in some museums, the man who attends to all the packing, unpacking, hanging of pictures and small repairs to frames, cases, etc. He is, of course, a high-grade and skilled mechanic and for that reason might be expected to stand in the same class as the engineer and under the orders of the head of the executive staff, yet his work is entirely under the director and it is thus much simpler to have him classed under the administrative department. For this position there are many types of applicants. A salary of $100 a month is not too much to pay for the right man as he must have a thorough knowledge of carpentry, a considerable mechanical skill and inventiveness so that he can meet difficult problems of hanging or exhibiting objects, and he must be skilled in the packing of all classes of art objects. A packer with a department store training is of no use whatever. A man who has had some years of experience with one of the big art dealers, who has turned his hand to anything from crafting an old master or cleaning a priceless marble to tinting frames and faking furniture and who has been in the habit of handling valuable works of art for some years, is the most helpful kind of person for this position. Very often the knowledge of the workings of a big shop is useful in a museum and a man who has served successfully under these conditions is adaptable and soon picks up the museum point of view. If the museum has many loan exhibitions each year, this man will be unable to undertake any large jobs besides; if not, he may be able to turn his hand to making cases or other work of a similar nature which will suggest itself to the director. He is certainly worth his salary if he is good at all.
Turning now to the executive staff. The director should not need to bother with details such as who is to mop the floors or do the ordinary dusting around a museum. For this he has a superintendent of buildings whose business it is to understand all about the electric lighting system, the heating and ventilating plants, and the ordinary cleaning, receiving and shipping of all objects. He should be responsible for janitors and custodians and arrange to hire and discharge them. Where the museum plant is a large one this officer is absolutely indispensable. He relieves the director of certain responsibilities and is personally accountable to him for the safety of all museum objects. In a smaller museum the responsibility may be differently shared. The gallery man may be given charge of receiving and shipping, the engineer take care of heating, lighting and ventilating, and the head custodian take entire charge of galleries. This brings much more detail back into the hands of the director and makes him responsible for the safety of the objects, as is the director of a European museum. On this point it is interesting to note that whereas in America the responsibility for safety from fire and theft is vested in the superintendent of buildings, abroad it is vested in the director himself.
Next to the superintendent the most important man in this section of the staff is the engineer. He must have a thorough knowledge of his boilers and will undoubtedly be able to take charge of the small repairs that are constantly needed in connection with heating, lighting and ventilating apparatus. There are very few museums now equipped with a heating system requiring constant attention, and unless the plant be a large one the engineer will be the one man in the building who may not always be fully occupied. His hours are long, and his salary not large considering that on his knowledge and ability rests much of the safety of the objects in the museum. For instance, if he does not know how to fire his boilers scientifically the clouds of smoke issuing from the stacks will be unbearable. In some climates and with some plants it is necessary to provide a night engineer as well as a day engineer, although sometimes the night watchman can be trusted to keep the fires from going out during his watch. A certain drop in temperature is, of course, permissible but much variation must not occur or the director will find cracks in his furniture and panel pictures.
It is always a good plan to have at the door of the museum an attendant with a commission as special police officer. One of the guards can obtain this, and it gives him the right to make arrests within the building and to call other police officers with his whistle. Some museums have a regular member of the police force on their staff but if this is done there must be a distinct understanding that so long as he is in the museum building he is under orders from the director or superintendent of buildings and not from without. Unless this is done an element of disorder is brought in which is upsetting to discipline.
In museums using turnstiles the man who sells tickets can control the admissions. Where none are used, there must be either a special policeman or the head janitor to watch the people who pass into the building and to prevent the entrance of undesirables. One museum makes it a rule to forbid entrance to persons who are "not suitably dressed." On such points this attendant must rule.
No employee should be allowed to enter the service of the museum without having his references thoroughly looked into. In case the men come through Civil Service, the director should have an understanding with the Commission that no position will be given without a special examination of references. There are few departments of public service where this matter is so important and the Civil Service bureaus are usually over-worked and often unable to be thorough in their investigation, though perfectly willing to put all possible information in the hands of the director.
In selecting men as custodians most museums are hampered in one way or another. The European museum, as a part of the state government, is manned by retired soldiers, men who through long service to the state have acquired respect and veneration for public property that makes them reliable and dependable. These men, once they obtain a position, are there for life unless something unforeseen happens. In America no man takes any such position with the intention of staying in it long,—only until he can find something better. Few museums feel that they can pay more than $50-$60 per month and for this wage permanent, intelligent and active help cannot be had. There are, however, men who have passed the prime of life and are no longer equal to a strenuous day's work, who are glad to take museum positions and who fill them satisfactorily. They must all be strong enough to do heavy cleaning for two hours every morning (from 8-10) and four or five hours on Monday, and they must have sufficient of the hermit's spirit not to leave their beats to flock together and gossip. As to intelligence, that they must possess, although just where it is desirable and where it becomes objectionable is the question. A too garrulous custodian who babbles fairy tales about the objects in his charge is offensive, but a certain amount of knowledge of all the collections of the museum and a little accurate information about the objects directly in his charge is very desirable. A careful and repeated coaching on the part of the director is worth while. Courtesy, even to the most irritating person, is absolutely necessary, and where a rebuke is to be administered it must be done with tact and discretion. A visitor often unwittingly does something he should not do, and in this event is much taken aback when spoken to abruptly. The museums have lost many friends through rudeness of the custodians. The number of custodians needed depends upon the character of the collections and the number of visitors. For the most part, one man can safely guard three rooms provided they open into each other with doors opposite. In case of crowds, two rooms are perhaps all that should be given to one man, largely on account of danger of vandalism, as the possibility of theft is minimized by a crowd. It would be well to have the custodians instructed and drilled as to what should be done, in case of fire or a panic, in controlling crowds, and what objects are most valuable, should it be necessary to remove them. To have the custodians take turns in assisting the gallery man in changing exhibitions of pictures and other objects is very important, as in that way they become familiar with handling the works of art.
The number of janitors required varies with the size of the museum, but it may be stated as fairly proportioned if there are half as many janitors as guards. In some cases this will prove too large a number. The janitors take care of polishing floors, which (if they are waxed) needs to be done once a month at least. They also keep the brasses clean and do such other extra cleaning as seems necessary. Their most important duty is to relieve the guards at lunch time. Both janitors and guards should be in uniform, the former not necessarily in an expensive outfit, a plain khaki with the initials of the museum in black is good form. Caps should, by all means, be provided, as they give a trig appearance and serve to identify the museum's men. The guards are provided with cloth uniforms which may be of whatever color the museum chooses. For summer a light-weight serge is chosen. White duck is very effective but the laundry is quite an item.
There is one more employee in this department and that is the night watchman. He is, of course, under the superintendent of buildings unless there is none, in which case he reports to the director. His hours are long and his service is at night, yet his salary is usually small, $60 a month as an average. On him depends the safety of the museum for fully half the time. He must take care of the boilers, make the rounds once an hour, pull the boxes and be fully responsible. He must not go to sleep, and he must have all his wits about him in case of sudden emergency.
To keep the time of the executive staff is quite a problem. The best administrators deplore the use of any sort of machine control like a time-clock, though with a large staff of janitors and attendants this is necessary. By far the best system, if practical, is that of appointing the men in turn as monitor for a week to keep the time of the others. The superintendent, of course, must see in a general way that the monitor is doing his duty. For the administrative staff the use of a time-clock has been tried and found undesirable. No highly intelligent worker will shirk,—if they do, they are not wanted in a museum. The time when the staff comes to the office and the time that is taken off for lunch is a matter to be controlled by the observation of the director and the conscience of the employee. Any other system breeds discontent and laziness. Unless every member of the staff is so devoted to his or her work that dilatoriness and shirking are impossible, the museum should look elsewhere. There are times of stress when the museum must keep the staff overtime, and the response will be instant from the devoted workers who feel themselves independent, responsible human beings. Time-clock service is greatly to be deplored. It is undependable and unintelligent and must be constantly watched. In these days when the idea of individual responsibility is being used even in prisons, time-clocks are out of date in museums, universities, and all other institutions where a high order of intelligence is demanded.
CLEANING AND AVOIDANCE OF DUST
The processes of cleaning in a museum, while similar to those in a home, yet contain some elements of difference. For one thing, the first object in a museum must be the avoidance of dust. Some sort of sweeping compound which will collect the dust is therefore very valuable, and a dry mop is the most necessary of tools. Marble floors have to be washed and care must be taken in the selection of the soft soap to be used, as some soaps discolor the marble with excess fats and also leave the surface very slippery. For the marble standing finish, where streaks will show badly, a little ammonia in the water is helpful and no soap of any kind must be used. Cleaning powders also should be avoided. In dusting, the specially prepared oily dusters should not be used as they are hard to wash. A good quality of cheese-cloth is the best duster. It is soft and absorbent and can be washed easily and will not hurt any finish. For the dusting of the furniture on exhibition, this is also valuable. Polychromed sculpture should not be dusted except by an expert such as the gallery man or the director himself, and then a very soft painter's dust brush is the most effective. Tapestries should be dusted from time to time gently and with a soft brush, but this should not be done in the exhibition gallery. Walls hung with textiles should be cleaned once in six months with a vacuum cleaner, which can also be used around the radiators. The objects on exhibition should not be cleaned with this apparatus. The presence of dust in a museum is not only unsightly, it is dangerous, for it breeds moths, mice and other pests besides being injurious to the objects on exhibition. Paintings should not be touched by the janitors or custodians but should be dusted once a month or once in two months at most, by the gallery man, using a piece of soft, clean China silk to wipe off the face of the painting and a soft brush or clean dust cloth on the frame. Marble and bronze sculpture also can be dusted with a clean painter's brush. The ordinary cleaning of casts is best done in this way also. A feather duster is an instrument of evil. It scatters the dust and the little bones in each feather are always sharp enough to scratch any object they may touch.
Care should be taken in the use of all cleaning tools. They must be soft and clean or they will do more harm than good.
RULES FOR COPYISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS
The policy of a museum in regard to its relations with copyists and photographers is a difficult one to form. There is no doubt that the advertising value of copies and photographic reproductions is very great. It remains for the museum to decide whether it is better to restrict the public privileges or to give all possible encouragement. The first point to be considered is whether any of the objects have been copyrighted, and here let it be stated that there are two kinds of copyright, the artist's and the owner's. A little pamphlet containing the law on this subject is issued by the government. (For English law, see Copyright of Works of Art in the Museums of Britain, E. E. Lowe, Museums Journal, vol. III, p. 147.) Suffice it to say that a museum owning a picture has no right to copyright the picture itself. It can only copyright reproductions of that picture. Therefore, in buying a picture, the museum that desires really to control the reproductions of that picture must also buy the artist's copyright. The question is, how much advantage accrues to the museum from owning this right. The Picture Gallery in Basle, Switzerland, is one of the few museums in any country that has made a satisfactory and profitable use of copyrights. It owns quite a large number of Böcklin's paintings and buys a good deal of modern art. In each case it buys the copyright as well. This in turn it rents to publishers who are glad enough to pay a moderate price for the right to make photographic and postcard reproductions and printed sets of the works of different artists. These are put on sale on the open market and at the museum, which clears a tidy little profit each year from royalties and sales. Incidentally the museum can control the quality of reproductions. The proceeds from this form a fund for the acquisition of prints, in this particular case.
A picture copyrighted by the artist cannot be either copied or photographed without a special permit. In order to secure this copyright it is necessary to place upon the front of the canvas the sign "© (copyright), (date)....., by .....(name)" Where only a certain reproduction is copyrighted the plate and each print bear the same mark. It is thus very easy to tell which works have been copyrighted.
Some owners are very particular not to have their pictures photographed, and in securing a loan exhibition it is always wise to secure the owner's permission to have it photographed so that there would be no trouble should occasion arise.
In general the rules for copyists are the same in all museums. The authorities must first be satisfied as to the character and artistic ability of the applicant. Second, copyists can only be admitted on pay days. (This often gives rise to much complaint on the part of the people who have paid to get in! On the other hand it is difficult, if not impossible, for a copyist to work on a crowded day, and they are much more in the way when there are many people all trying to see at once.) Third, the copy should not be the exact size of the original. Fourth, the copyist must provide a good-sized cloth to lay on the floor under the easel. Fifth, the copyist must not engage in conversation with the public, nor offer his work for sale. The museum is a place for serious study, not a shop. Sixth, every copy made in the museum must be taken to the office when completed. There it will be examined by the director and clearly marked "COPY" on the back of the canvas before it may be taken from the building.
In some American museums the third rule is now done away with, as the marking of "COPY" on the back of the finished picture is considered a sufficient safeguard. For an interesting discussion of this subject see in Schinkel's letters, vol. II, p. 321, Wilhelm Freiherr von Humboldt, Aug. 21, 1830, on Copying in Galleries.
Permits are usually issued which must be shown to the guards on demand. For pencil notes or sketches no permits are required. One great collector in New York strenuously objects to having even notes of color combinations made from a case containing his miniatures, so that there should always be an understanding in the matter.
In regard to photographs, it is getting to be more and more the custom to permit the use in the museum of small cameras and kodaks rather freely, provided the owner signs a promise not to put any of the prints on sale.
MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS
Under this head must be considered the bulletin, catalogues, postcards, notices of exhibitions and photographs. There is no one thing more important than the bulletin. On it rests the major part of the reputation of the museum outside the small group of intimates who know its development from day to day. The greatest care should be taken in the choice of paper, the quality of the reproductions and the kind of printing. The physical make-up of the little magazine is important because unless it is attractive and well done, no matter how illuminating the reading matter may be, it will not be read. In the presentation of material several things must be borne in mind. The object of the bulletin is primarily to interest and instruct a lay public; therefore articles of a purely academic nature are undesirable. On the other hand, infinite care must be taken never to talk down to the public. State things in an interesting way, avoid excess of technicalities, and make the reader feel an overwhelming desire to go to see the object described. The bulletin is not the place to print articles of a scientific nature which will show the depth of the knowledge of the members of the staff. Accuracy of statement is essential and the aim of the bulletin should be to bring to the attention of its public the breadth and scope of the collections as well as to point out the most interesting objects. An occasional article on collecting or on contemporary art or a discussion of exhibitions in other cities can be introduced with good effect. But in the case of the latter it is questionable policy to report an exhibition in a neighboring city when it is too late for the readers to profit by the description in going to see the show. All matter of a controversial character should be excluded from the bulletin of the museum.
Some bulletins carry advertisements which greatly help in the expense of publication. However, when this is done there should by all means be a business manager to handle this end, for the museum director should be too fully occupied with his other duties to be able to spare the time for getting advertisers and making up a complicated "dummy."
Catalogues are the proper medium for the expression of scientific knowledge. They should not in any way take the place of labels, but they should by all means supplement these. A catalogue, to be of great value, should be a reference book which can be used for special study in the gallery, but which is most valuable for use at home. Illustrations are infinitely more vital than description, and the latter should be used sparingly to supplement the former. But, in order that the illustrations may be more useful, they must be inserted in the text and not placed together at the front or back. An admirable illustration of good catalogues is to be found in the publications of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. The chief fault one has to find with these is the large size in which they are printed which makes them awkward to use on the spot in the gallery itself. The catalogues of the Metropolitan Museum are satisfactory in size but often printed on such heavy paper as to be quite cumbersome to use.
There are a number of firms in the United States who make a specialty of the publication of postcards. Hardly any of them, however, are able to vie with the results obtained by the German postcard makers in clarity of detail or soft, velvety finish, while the prices they charge are so high as to be almost prohibitive. The Art Institute in Chicago is a shining example of how to cater to public demand and make money at the same time. They publish most of their own cards, having cuts made by an expert and printed by the best printers with care on specially selected stock. Their largest sales and largest profits are on the black and white reproductions sold at one cent each. Color cards should never be sold by a museum unless they are very accurate both in tone and in exact registering of plates. The museum should stand for the best in all such work.
It is very difficult to find any commercial photographer who understands how to photograph paintings or works of art. For this reason it is highly desirable that the museum should, whenever possible, have some one on its staff who can attend to this matter. The modern systems of registration call for small photographs of every object to be pasted upon the accession cards and these should, of course, be made within the museum. The expense of this is considerable unless it can be done in odd minutes by some one already employed in another capacity, or unless the museum has so much of this work that it requires a photographer constantly in attendance. It is often convenient, too, to have some one take pictures of transient exhibitions for use in the newspapers. The same person can make the photographic postcards, and should have a camera of 8×10 size to use in making prints for sale if the museum is fortunate in owning anything that reproduces well and has a popular appeal. The small prints for accession cards can be made with the same camera by using a system of shutters to cover parts of the plate such as is in use in the shops where penny pictures are taken.
RECORDS
The needs of each museum in respect to blanks are wholly individual and must be met by the ingenuity of the director or by the aid of an expert efficiency man, although the latter never thoroughly understands the peculiar problems of the museum. The system developed by the Metropolitan is fitted to an enormous institution but is too cumbersome to be useful, without modification, in a smaller museum. The Boston system has a number of good points but again is not wholly satisfactory. Both of these institutions send out information carefully tabulated and copies of their forms, to any one interested. This subject has not received the attention that it deserves and the following detailed description is therefore perhaps not untimely.
In practice in a medium-sized museum the problem and its solution are as follows: There are two places at which objects coming into the museum are received: 1. the shipping room at which all loan exhibitions coming in by express or freight, special loans from individuals, if delivered by a team or expressman, and objects sent on approval by dealers, are received; 2. the director's office where are received objects brought in by hand, for examination, as loans, as gifts, offered for purchase or to await action of accessions committee. There must, of course, be some means of checking all of these objects both coming in and going out. An exact record must be kept, as otherwise there is always a possibility of trouble.
For objects received in the shipping room a special form of record can be used upon which is entered the date, number of boxes received, from whom (i. e. what express or transfer company), name of shipper, valuation and charges. Each box, as it comes in, receives a number which is also entered on this blank. A similar sheet is kept for outgoing shipments. Here we have the date, number of boxes shipped, numbers on the boxes, to whom, by what express, valuation and charges (prepaid or collect). By means of these two lists a complete record can be easily kept and the bursar has a ready means of checking up the express bills.
There is, however, one more form which must be kept in the shipping room, and this is the box list. It has already been stated that every box is numbered as it comes in. This number is entered upon a blank and, following it, the name or description of every object in the box is entered. This is sometimes a long process, but it is very necessary. Let us suppose a case. A dealer sends fifteen American paintings to a special exhibition. They arrive on January 26th in five cases which are numbered 90-94 inclusive. They go on exhibition for a month and are taken down February 28th. As no word has come from the dealer telling what is to become of them after this date, they are put in storage. About March 15th comes a letter from the dealer asking to have Nos. 1, 5 and 7 sent to Detroit, No. 11 to Boston and No. 8 to Chicago; the remainder are to be returned to New York. In the office where this letter is received the records are consulted and the following notice to the packer made out:
ORDER No. 16
Please ship to-day via Franconia Express
X Prepaid, Collect, Valuation $500 on each box
To Messrs. Roderique & Son
310 Fifth Ave., N. Y., N. Y.
Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, in February exhibition, being paintings by Davis (1), Hassam (2), Friesecke (2), Davie s (/), Bellows (/), Henri (2).
William Leavitt, Director.
March 16,191- These paintings were rec'd Jan. 26.
A similar notice is made out for the special shipments requested by the dealer. The packer then consults his list of arrivals, and finds under date of January 26th : "Received 5 boxes numbered 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, from Roderique & Son, via Franconia Express, $500 on each box, charges prepaid." Turning to his box list he finds that box 90 contained pictures 15, 3, 5, 7, etc. But owing to the fact that all the pictures are not to be returned to the same place, they must be differently packed, so he enters in his list the fact "Box 90 shipped to Detroit per order No. — with Nos. 1, 5, 7." A similar record is kept of all the pictures which are packed in the old boxes as far as possible. In his shipping list he enters "Shipped March 16, 3 boxes Nos. 91, 92, 94 to Messrs. Roderique & Son, N. Y., via Fr. Ex., $500 on each box, charges prepaid." On the same day he notifies the office that the shipment has been made, and the office writes a letter to Detroit, to Boston, and to Chicago, saying "We have been asked by Messrs. Roderique and Company to send you certain pictures (mention them by name). They have been shipped to you to-day via Franconia Express prepaid, valuation $500 on each box. Kindly notify us if you do not receive them promptly." To Messrs. Roderique and Company a letter goes, repeating their instructions and stating that the shipment has been made.
There is thus a complete record on file of all the processes in the handling of this shipment. The notification to the lender that a shipment has been made is important legally in case of loss in transit. We have already referred to the office end. Let us return to that and see what records are kept there. When the record has been entered in the packer's lists, he notifies the office that he has received a shipment and what it contains. The director then decides what is to be done with the objects, brought to his office, put in the store room, or on exhibition. He then notifies his assistant who enters in the loan book the fact of its arrival with date. The headings of the spaces in this book may be arranged as follows:
| Date rec'd. |
Loan No. |
Title of work. |
Name of artist. |
Lent by |
Insured amt. and by whom. |
Valuation. | Date ret'd. |
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
The numbers in this book are consecutive during any one year. And right here let it be stated that there is no one thing which causes more inconvenience and difficulty in bookkeeping than having the beginning of the fiscal year come at some other time than at the beginning of the calendar year. For in all the systems of numbering in use in museums, the year of acquisition is always used in conjunction with the running accessions number, and to figure exactly how many objects had been received from October 1st to October 1st is always inconvenient and confusing, whereas from January 1st to January 1st the last number itself tells.
Any object which is loaned to the museum for exhibition purposes is entered in this book. An object sent in for examination only should be entered in a book kept by the director himself as follows:
| Date rec'd |
No. | Class of object. |
Attributed to |
Sent in by |
Remarks | Date rec'd. |
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
In this way, a confidential record can be kept which may save much trouble especially when the same object is presented again by another party, as frequently happens. In this book the numbers should be simply consecutive.
Any object offered as a gift or for sale is entered on a special blank such as those shown on pages 243 and 245. To these blanks are attached any correspondence there may be about the object, and notes made by the director. When action has been taken the blanks for objects accepted are passed on to the assistant in charge of the accession book who enters the information necessary, provided the object has been received by the museum. When this is accomplished the blank goes to the bursar who finds in it his authorization to pay the bill when presented. These blanks he then keeps arranged according to date. The card catalogue of accessions and the accessions book together form the index for these blanks. Gift blanks and blanks for objects offered and not purchased are kept on file.
We come now to identification of the objects themselves. It is customary to use a little paper sticker or a small strung tag for objects loaned to a museum. These stickers have the name of the institution printed upon them and the loan number is written in in ink. Objects temporarily in the museum, as those which are offered for purchase or sent for examination, do not receive any number to identify them. The regular accessions, however, have the number painted on with bright red or black oil color paint, sometimes mixed with siccatif or varnish. Care must be taken that these numbers are so placed as to be as inconspicuous as possible. On paintings, they can be placed upon the back of the canvas or stretcher, on small bronzes, on or under the base, on porcelains, under the base, etc. Laces are marked with tags of linen tape upon which the number is written in indelible ink.
A form of loan or temporary receipt is very necessary in some instances. The Metropolitan uses both. In a smaller museum one is quite sufficient. Forms are given here for both, but most museums will find it sufficient to have only something similar to the temporary receipt form printed. These should be numbered consecutively and are convenient if made in book form although in tablet form they can be used in the typewriter.
One other form is necessary, and that is the sticker to be attached to objects taken out of the building. Persons entering the building are obliged to leave parcels, etc., at the door unless they ask for the director and have something to show him. In this case they are allowed to take the package in but they may not take it out unless it is provided with a pass made in two pieces, a stub which is glued to the package, and an end which is torn off by the gate keeper and returned to the office. Objects going out by the receiving-room door must all be checked by the packer or superintendent of buildings, and do not need this tag. Since the theft of the Mona Lisa, a visitor to the Louvre is not allowed to take from the building a photograph or a package of postcards which he has bought in the gallery, without being provided with a pass one end of which is pasted over the joining of the wrapping paper so as to insure the impossibility of opening it and substituting some other object. These stickers are best made of paper that is not too thick and should be well gummed.
Form letters are used by some large museums but in most cases a simple note can be dictated quite as quickly as to indicate the form to be used, and the impression created is much more favorable. A somewhat elaborate form in the nature of a diploma is used in acknowledging a gift, and this is of value psychologically, especially in dealing with certain types of persons. A suggestion for this form is shown on page 246.
Every object acquired by the museum, whether by gift or purchase, should be entered in the accessions book in the order in which it is received, but—no object should be counted as an accession until it has been received, unpacked, numbered and entered. Suppose, for instance, a museum were to acquire a collection of fifty snuff boxes, and pay for them on September 30th, and on October 2d at the annual meeting announce the purchase and add fifty to the number of accessions for the year. By some misunderstanding or delay, the shipment is not made until January and the boxes come at a very inopportune time and cannot be unpacked till February. By rights, having announced the purchase, fifty numbers should be left in the accessions book and the other objects received after the report put in later, but this case is often exaggerated and sometimes the exact number of pieces in a new collection is not known. It is therefore much better to count no accession that is not entered in the book. This book should be kept in library hand and should be the responsibility of one person and one alone. It should be arranged so that the material to be entered goes across two pages, and it is very convenient to have twenty-five lines to the page. The usual number of objects allowed for in a book is five thousand. The page should be divided as shown on p. 252 of Appendix. A loose-leaf accessions book should not be used because of the danger of loss of any sheet. Each line is provided with a running number so that the museum can at any time discover the number of its accessions, but this is not the accessions number. This last is a compound made up of two figures to indicate the year of the accession and the running number to indicate the order in which the objects have been acquired in the year. Thus in 1916 the thirty-second accession in that year would be numbered 16.32. In some museums these numbers are reversed, thus, 32.16. The loans receive similar numbers preceded by the capital letter L. Again, some museums use the two combinations differently, i. e. for accessions 16.32 and for loans L. 32.16. This system, however, is apt to be confusing until one is thoroughly familiar with it, and there is little danger of mistake because the loan number is never put directly on any object but always on a tag or label attached to it.
There is never but one copy of the accessions book. The card catalogue of accessions, however, should be made in duplicate or triplicate according to the size of the museum. It should be kept thoroughly up to date and there should always be a complete copy somewhere outside the museum building in case of accident of any kind, fire, earthquake or other disturbance. One copy should always be in the director's office, another, covering all material in his department, in the office of the curator. A sample card will be found on page 251.
All information should be on the front side of the card. Certain museums use cards of extraordinary size. This is quite unnecessary. The most satisfactory method is always to use standard sizes. The ordinary 4×6 card is quite large enough. It should be without lines, so that it can more easily be used in the typewriter. For this reason also it should be of rather thin board. The custom of mounting a small photograph of the object upon the card is admirable. It makes identification much simpler, and where this is done it also makes a long and detailed description of the object unnecessary. The best museum practice demands that only such facts as cannot be discovered in the photograph be entered on the card. Some museums enter the name of the dealer from whom an object is bought and the price paid, on the accession cards. This material has its proper place in the accessions book but should not be accessible to the public. The card catalogue, like the catalogues of a library, should be such that a competent student might consult it at his leisure.
ADVERTISING
The time has gone by when the trustees of a museum are satisfied to have their institution merely a storehouse of dead art. It must be a living and vital force in the life of the community, and in order that this shall be so, something must be done to bring the people to the building.
Educational work with the school children is, of course, the best method of advertising that could be devised, for where the children know and understand the collections, the use of the museum by the "grown ups" is bound to follow. So strongly has this been felt that museum instruction has now become a distinct branch of museum work.
But there are many other forms of advertising that have received the sanction of usage in our best-known museums to-day. The commonest of these is the use of display cards in or upon the street-cars of the city. In some cities these are only used in the cars running directly to the art museum. In other cities they advertise the collections or temporary exhibitions, and are to be found in all the cars. In certain rare instances where the president of the street-car company happens to take a special interest, these cards are carried free. In other places the museum is obliged to pay for them as any other enterprise would have to do. But the art of advertising does not stop with the decision to spend some money on display cards. The form in which they are printed is important, and the museum must realize that all advertising is governed by psychological laws, and that a design for street-car cards that would be very appropriate and delightful if it could be examined at close range is often totally illegible or unattractive when seen from the sidewalk or even from the length of the car. Brilliant color can be artistic and it has carrying power. The legend must be short and to the point.
Some museums have discovered that they can reach the newcomer in their city by means of small advertisements placed in the railroad stations and hotels, and although both hotels and railroad stations are loath to break their rules against the display of such cards, they can sometimes be induced to place a small and well-designed sign of this sort where it will do a great deal of good. In a city where there are several museums, co-operation between them often secures opportunities of this kind which would not otherwise be available. Almost every city now has an active organization interested especially in the development of its resources; sometimes a chamber of commerce, sometimes a private association or club like the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association. Through this agency, cards can be distributed, giving the hours that the museum is open, price of admission, and a summary of the collection, as well as indicating the main lines of approach. Free publicity is given by the prominent newspapers, either in their news or art columns, to announcements of lectures, special exhibitions, new accessions, or items of general news. Some museums regard this as of such importance that they have a special publicity manager on their staff. Others attempt to handle the giving out of news through the separate departments.
Almost all of our larger museums spend a certain amount of money in advertising of one kind or another. The most scholarly form which this takes is, of course, the museum bulletin, but this organ is read by a very small number of the people to whom it is sent. We are trying more and more to make the collections in our museums tell their story and interest the public, and very soon we shall find that the bulletins also will be written with this special object in view and they will no longer be thrown away. In this respect, the museum is in the same position as the commercial house publishing its "house organ," and some of the methods adopted in the clever little magazines produced by some of these firms might well serve to assist the museum to perform its mission of educating through its bulletin. Many of the museums and art societies are sending out postcard notices to their members, giving a list of exhibitions and lectures, and these may be made very valuable; but a cleverly worded and well-designed paid advertisement in the newspapers would be still more efficacious.
Certain of our museums are undertaking advertising of a different form by conducting campaigns for civic betterment with headquarters at the museum. This is a perfectly legitimate method and brings a museum into close relation with the people of the city. Many museum officials who are imbued with traditions of scholarly aloofness look askance at such movements as city-beautiful campaigns and bird campaigns. These may not be directly connected with an art museum, but they are directly connected with the interests of the city, and what is more logical than that the museum should be the centre from which radiates civic improvement? We are living in a different age from that of our fathers, and it is only right that the museum should make use of the different agencies open to us in this generation.
In this connection, a rough table showing the percentage of art museum visitors to the popula-tion in seven cities may be of interest. The population is figured in all cases from the census of 1910, the attendance figures are in some cases for 1915, and in some cases for 1914, according to the data available.
| Toledo, 68% | St. Louis, 24% |
| Chicago, 40% | Minneapolis, 19% |
| Boston, 32% | Indianapolis, 15% |
| New York, 14% |
It is interesting to note in this connection that Toledo does more advertising than any other of these museums, and the result is obvious. There is hardly a street urchin in the city who does not know and love the museum. Whatever the prejudices in favor of the dignity of a museum, all directors are trying to bring cultural influences into the lives of the people, and in order to do this there must be some way of increasing the attendance. Advertising is the modern medium, and to be up to date the museum must extend its advertising.
CONCLUSION
After studying all phases of the situation and reading such articles as are available on the subject, in order not to duplicate costly and unsuccessful experiments, the museum director must proceed according to his judgment. There must never be a universal standard of right and wrong in our museums. Each one must be individual and distinguished in some special way. The collections are the important feature and the genius of the director will show in his ability to make them vital and original.