E N G L J S H S U P P.LEMEN T

FRANK E. W. FREUND: EXHIBITIONS
ANI3 RECENT ACQUISITIONS IN
AMERICAN MUSEUMS

Some time ago Dr. Yalentiner drew the attention
of American museum directors to the fact that
more stress should be laid on loan exhibitions as
such exhibitions tended to awaken a greater inter-
est in art. He himself set the example by arranging
a series of exhibitions in the Detroit Art Institute,
one an exhibit of French Gothic, another an exhi-
bition of Van Dyck. In Ghicago a collection of
Venetian art was opened to the public and fur-
ther exhibitions of old masters drew considerablc
attention. Most of the pictures came from private
collections in Chicago. The chief exhibition of the
Metropolitan Museum was given over to arts and
crafts, »Art in the Home«. Further interesting col-
lections were displayed at the Fogg Museum of
llarvard University, in the Baltimore Museum,
the Wadsworth Athenaeum and the Cleveland Mus-
eum.

Two important acquisitions have come to the Metro-

politan Museum, the Havemeyer Collection and sev-

enteen inillion dollars, the latter sum was left to

the museum by Frank A. Munsey in 1925 ancl

only just paid out. A number of purchases have

been made recently for the museum which have

added greatly to the collections. The Pennsylvan-

ian Museum in Philadelphia has opened an ex-

position of »period rooms«. Among the new ac-

quisitions of the museum is a collection of Chinese

painting. The Boston museum and the Chicago In-

stitute have both reoeived presents of large sums

of money. The latter has purchased a portion of

the German Muehsam Glass Collection. The De-

troit Institute, tho Fogg Museum, the St. Louis,

the Toledo, the Cleveland, tlie ITartford, the Cin-

cinnati and the Worcester Museums have all ac-

quired many new and interesting objets d’art

from all periods. „ , . ,

1 lo he contmued

S. GIEDION: LE CORBUSIER ANI)
NEWARCHITECTURE

l’he subject of new style in architeeture is too
superindividual lo be identified with any one
name. J'his fact is shown in Lhe aims of the move-
ment: to introduce and use industrial productive
methods instead of hand work, and to comply with
the biological demands instead of using t.hatfacade
architecture wliich to-day as in the ig 111 century

has under the influence of official aesthetic
demands stifled Lhe functions of the house.

In this connection the name, Le Corbusier, lias
come to Ihe attenlion of the public, so it is
time to ask: What has he done? The Girsberger
publishing company of Zurich has just published
a book with numerous illustrations on Lc Corbu-
sier and Pierre Jeaneret which gives extensive
information on a very large scale. The 600 illu-
strations offer a very vivid picture of their work.
It is astonishing with what certainty the problems
are presented and what consequential development
is shown. Il is true the reserved and silent coopera-
tion of Jeaneret must not be left out of considera-
tion. All the works produced have been accom-
plished in cooperation, although Corbusier’s work
may outweigh Jeaneret’s, so that the two may be
spoken of collectively.

Corbusier has been reproached and correctly with
the fact that he builds only for rich peoplc. If the
new publication is examined closely it will be seen
that in the beginning therc are building additions
and houses for pcrsons with a minimum income.
At a lime when Germany was still looking about
uncertainly Corbusier drew Lhe plan for a colony
with a simple skeleton structure of iron-concrete,
which showed only ceilings and stairs (the so-
called Houses Domino 191 !\—1915) and which
really contained Lhe substance of Corbusier’s whole
development. This simple drawing is perhaps a
mark of the greatest genius shown by Corbusier.
Then follow repeatedly building additions for
workmen, craftsmen, for artists. Aone of these
plans was carried out, with the exception of
Pessac, which was done some years later (192 5-
26). The rebuilding of the war territory was done
without consideration for architectural develop-
ment. The French authorities are for the present
not interested in house building. There are,
however, a number of rich peojile in France —
especially among the Americans and Swiss — who
possess enough architectural feeling to build houses
which are in keeping with the trend of the times.

CONSTRUCTION AS A BASIS
Corbusier does not start wilh an improvement or
“refinement” of form. Witli his defintion: “Agir
par construction spirituelle’’ he places himself with
Henri Labrouste, Tonv Garnier and Auguste Per-
ret. The opinion of the author has been confirmed
in this book: “As none olher before him, Corbusier
has made the iron-concrete skeleton structure
given us by science ‘reverberate’. Here his modelling

9