Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1909 (Heft 26))

IRRESPONSIBILITY IN HIGH PLACES

THE great majority of people in this country derive their informa-
tion from newspapers. From the same source they also draw
their opinions. If the topic discussed is one on which they do
not feel themselves qualified to have an opinion of their own,
they are very apt to assimilate the one they read. This is particu-
larly true of topics concerning art. A great ignorance of it
prevails and at the same time a great desire for knowledge on the subject.
People read what the newspapers say about it, and are influenced thereby;
especially if the opinion expressed bears the authority of some well-known
name or of some one in a distinguished position.
For example, if a man in the position of Sir Purdon Clarke expresses an
opinion, the latter is bound to carry great weight with the general public.
They may know nothing of him personally, of his attainments or particular
qualifications to speak upon the subject at issue; but his position as Director
of the Metropolitan Museum assures them that he speaks with authority;
and his utterances are very likely to be accepted as gospel.
It is this fact which renders the interviews with Sir Purdon that have
recently appeared in the “New York Evening Post” and “New York Times”
so pernicious. Those who know the personality of the man, his weak as well
as his strong points, can discount his utterances. As an artist said to me a few
days ago, “I used to take Sir Purdon seriously,” and there was a suggestive
emphasis upon the past tense. But, outside of the artists and of the compara-
tively small number of Americans who have made a study of art, Sir Purdon
still cuts a big figure. For the general public is very naive. They pay more
than a child’s implicitness of respect to the written and spoken word. If they
see it written in their favorite journal, they still believe “it’s so.” They cling
to the belief that, because a man writes on a special subject, he must be a
specialist in that field. And a similarly unsuspecting attention is given to the
spoken word, whether delivered in speech or indirectly through an interview,
if the speaker assumes authority or seems to be clothed by his position with
the qualifications of an expert.
Now, is Sir Purdon an expert? In certain fields, yes; on the subjects he
presumes to discuss with an air of authority in these interviews, certainly not.
His early training was as an architect, and circumstances identified him with
the special field of Oriental architecture, from which he spread out to the
adjacent territories of textiles, ceramics, wood-carving and metal work. On
these crafts, ancient and of later date, his long service under the British
government, both as explorer and collector and as head of the South Kensing-
ton Museum, entitles him to speak with an authority that every one respects.
It was Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan’s own interest in these branches of art that
attracted him to Sir Purdon, and led to the latter’s appointment as Director
of the Metropolitan Museum: his expertness in the crafts and his executive
ability. The reason has been fulfilled in the results. Under the joint influence
of these two gentlemen the conspicuous additions to the collection have been

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