Arrangement and Planning

Decorative Arrangement and Classification.—Experi ment as to the best method of compromise is still proceeding. As regards requirement (I), the general tendency is to abandon large scale decorative effect, and aim at groups harmonious within themselves. This has in part been due to requirement (2), for which rooms of moderate size are best ; since even when 4 gallery possesses large numbers of one school and period, subdivision on the basis of artists and the different manners of artists is always possible. The large and lofty rooms in which many of the older European collections are housed create difficulties, however; though attempts to overcome these have been made by the use of screens to divide up the rooms, usually at a complete sacrifice to a decorative ensemble. Another and more successful method is to divide the walls into a series of bays by means of shallow buttresses, as in the new galleries at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, thus providing a number of more or less self-con tained units of space, while enabling the room itself to be large and imposing. This is a particularly useful device in small col lections, where each school or artist is represented only by a few pictures, which do not call for a separate room. The third re quirement of chronological arrangement within school or artist groups has rarely been attained, and has been almost invariably sacrificed to decorative arrangement of the pictures concerned, or to the interests of the individual picture. To secure the former, a method usually successful is to select a picture of suitable size or character as centre, and then to group symmetrically about it, by using pairs of pictures similar in size, tone and colour. Occasionally, two or more small pictures may be used to balance a larger one. For the study of individual pictures, hanging on one line level with the eye of the average spectator is generally recognised as most satisfactory. In large and lofty rooms, how ever, unless the pictures are large, this method leaves a large space of wall which overweights the pictures and spoils the dec orative effect. In recently built galleries therefore the tendency has been to keep the rooms comparatively low. In existing high galleries, a useful device is to introduce a moulding along the upper part of the wall, above which the wall is of a lighter tone than that of the part against which the pictures hang ; and so reduce the apparent height of the walls. Other important matters which affect both the individual picture and decorative ensemble are those of spacing, framing, background, and the use of acces sory objects, such sculpture and furniture. Too close hanging is admittedly inadvisable, though it may produce a pleasant pattern on the wall. The present tendency is to isolate and emphasize important pictures ; sometimes by placing on an easel or screen, a method detrimental to the general appearance of a room, sometimes by careful placing and spacing, with perhaps the use of a special background. Single line hanging and adequate spacing, greatly increase the amount of wall space required, to an extent which in a large collection may often be prohibitive. The problem still waits satisfactory solution. On the Continent extensive loans for long periods (as at Berlin) the creation of subsidiary galleries (e.g., Schleissheim, at Munich), and the use of storerooms, have considerably reduced the number of pictures on exhibition, though somewhat to the inconvenience of the student. The English National Gallery has created a Reference Section, in which the less important pictures are hung, open to the public on request. This method has been considerably ex plored and developed in the United States. The Boston Museum was a pioneer in placing exhibition and study galleries side by side, the latter being more tightly packed than the former, with the idea that for the specialist student amenities in display are less necessary than for the general public. The Fogg Museum has a similar system. This museum is arranged in the interests of a college community, the building is more than a museum; lec tures, research, drawing, painting and all the functions of the Department of Fine Arts of Harvard university are carried on within it. To overcome the difficulty that the public and students are shy of asking admission to the study galleries, the new museum at Philadelphia has arranged the two groups on separate floors, both equally accessible to the public.

Wall Coverings.—Framing and wall covering are both matters into which individual taste enters too markedly to make general ization possible. Broadly, the modern tendency is to use frames either of the period in which the picture was painted, or repro ductions of them: and to abandon rich, heavy backgrounds for lighter, neutral tints. The actual material employed varies with

the wealth of the gallery concerned. Canvas painted a suitable colour is widely employed for convenience and cheapness, but is apt to have an unpleasant texture. In public galleries, tightly stretched backgrounds are usual, as opposed to the loosely hung material much favoured by private collectors, mainly for con venience in cleaning walls and in rearranging pictures. The use of appropriate accessories is another matter in which taste differs widely. Undoubtedly furniture, sculpture, etc., of appropriate character add greatly to the general decorative effect, and help to induce an atmosphere favourable to appreciation of the picture. On the other hand, many people find them distracting, and that the picture tends to become only one among several objets d'art.

Lighting.

Lighting is another problem which still awaits satisfactory solution. Top lighting is generally preferred, as it enables every wall to be utilized, and diminishes the risk of shadows being thrown on the pictures. In some modern galleries, however (e.g., Detroit) and in the cabinets of older galleries, side lighting has been deliberately preferred, on the ground that cer tain pictures, such as those of the Dutch school, were painted to hang in places where side lighting was the rule. The top lighting of older galleries, conforming to the idea that a picture was primarily a means of decoration, was designed to illuminate the room as a whole, and is of ten so arranged that more light falls in the middle of the room than on the walls; with the inevitable result of reflections in the pictures, particularly distressing when these are glazed. Various devices, such as a velarium in the middle of the room, have been used to overcome this defect, but without conspicuous success except in countries such as Spain where the light is strong : since their main effect is to reduce the total amount of light in the room, and so to make it gloomy, while the amount falling on the walls still remains inadequate. In more modern galleries, a lantern roof, or a roof with solid centre and sloping glass sides, has met with some success. Excel lent examples are the new galleries at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and at Cardiff. At the Tate Gallery, a gallery with one wall lit directly from above, the remainder of the room being in comparative darkness, has provided good visibility on that wall; but has been criticised as a waste of wall space, and as being gloomy. In some modern American galleries, an interesting and promising experiment is the use of a flat glass roof inside an ordinary glazed roof ; the middle part of the inner roof being obscured by the use of a paint to a depth and area ascertained by experiment as satisfactory. (W. G. CO. ) as to the history, contents and build ings of particular galleries is generally given in the prefaces to their respective catalogues, both official and unofficial; but its extent varies considerably with the edition. Among the most useful editions are Amsterdam (192o), Antwerp (192o), Berlin (Kaiser Friedrich Museum), 2 vols. (1909), Brussels (1927), Budapest (Iwo), Dresden (192o), Florence (Uffizi) (Iwo), The Hague (1914), London (Wallace Collection) (1928), Madrid (Prado) (1922), ed. A. L. Mayer; Milan (Brera) (1908), ed. Ricci; Munich (Alte Pinacothek) (1925), New York (Metropolitan Museum) (1922), Paris (Luxembourg) (1913), ed. Benedite; Paris (Louvre) (N.D.), ed. Lafenestre and Richten berger; Venice (Academia) (1924), Vienna (1925), ed. Gliick.

The Making of the National Gallery, Sir Charles Holmes and C. H. Collins Baker; official history, The Foundation of the National Gallery, Burlington Magazine, April 1924, W. G. Constable. Informa tion on the construction, organization and arrangement of art galleries, has appeared in the monthly bulletins of the American Museums, notably those of the Metropolitan Museum, Boston, Philadelphia and Detroit ; also in The Museums Journal (Great Britain), Proceedings of the American Association of Museums, and Museum Work (Published by the American Association). Summaries of American experience, with suggestions, are: Manual for Small Museums (1927) ; Lawrence Vaile Coleman, and The Museum (1917), M. J. Talbot. Lighting methods (with diagrams and photographs) are treated in the Journal of the R.I.B.A., 3rd Series, vols. xx., xxx., xxxii., J. Hurst Seager, Country Life, September 8 (1928), W. G. Constable.