Page 6
University Daily Kansan
Friday, Oct. 23, 1964
Museum
By Judy Farrell
To establish communication between an object of art and its viewer is the primary goal of an art museum, John Maxon, director of the Chicago Art Institute, said last night in a speech before the Midwest College Art Conference.
In discussing "Art Presented." Maxon was the featured speaker of the three-day conference of art educators and art museum directors from an 18-state area. Maxon spoke to more than 400 conferences and students following a banquet in the Kansas Union.
"It is a point of primary importance to let the object of art speak for itself and to be presented with respect to the space in which it is shown, so that you the spectator and you the teacher can come together in communication," he said.
"THE FUNCTION of a museum is to present an object of art to the spectator in such a way that he is knocked flat," Maxon said. "Not so much at how it is presented, but at what is presented."
To achieve this the museum must not inhibit the spectator, he said, but should provide him with an awareness of the object in its proper context.
Maxon, a former director of the KU Museum of Art, said museum directors of Universities owe it to their students to display together the painting, sculpture and furniture from a specific historical period.
A disparate collection of painting, sculpture, furniture and even ceramics, can fit together, he said, to provide the student a sense of the time in which they were produced.
IN ENCOURAGING museum curators to display objects of the same historical period together even if they were produced in different countries, Maxon said, "Time and style transcend national boundaries.
The art of one's own country may be shown separately, however, if the museum prefers, he added.
Maxon illustrated his lecture with slides depicting museum presentations at the Spooner-Thayer Museum of Art here, the Museum of Art of the Rhode Island School of Design at Providence, R.I.; and the Chicago Art Institute.
EFFECTIVE MUSEUM presentation of its objects of art depends upon several things, he said.
- Clean and neat surroundings in which to display the objects.
- Logical presentation of the objects taking into consideration the logic of the building in which they are to be presented.
- A presentation which can promise the viewer that he can expect to see as much of the museum's permanent collection as is possible in the available space.
The Chicago Art Institute is able to display almost seven-eighths of its permanent collection of European pictures. he said.
"LET ME ADD that less than one-eighth of the collection that is submerged, is going to stay submerged," Maxon said.
Objects of art in poor condition or of poor quality should not take up
Must Transmit Art
space in a museum at the expense of quality, he said.
There are usually three divisions in a museum's collection, Maxon said, "That which is always on display, that which is occasionally on display, and that which has to be asked after by the spectators."
It is this last area which is usually buried deep in the basements of museums, he said.
"IN THIS PROCESS of presentation," Maxon said, "I do not think the curator should use the museum to display his own prejudices."
Though every museum director has his likes and dislikes, he said, they should be kept under cover.
In suggesting principles and procedures in the presentation of objects of art, Maxon said discretion is the most effective means of establishing a tasteful and attractive arrangement.
A six-year remodeling project, involving the addition of two wings, was recently completed at the Chicago Art Institute. As the culmination of this project, Maxon directed the rehanging and relocation of many of the objects in the museum's collection.
NATURAL LIGHT and space are two of the most invaluable items any museum can possess, he said.
After admitting he was responsible for blocking off the windows in the main gallery of the KU Museum during the remodeling project he directed here in 1515, Maxon said he would never do it again.
"If you've got natural light, hang onto it," he said.
Black white walls are a cruel and unflattering background for old pictures, he said, illustrating with a slide the background color now in use at the Art Institute which he called "a non-color, or dirty beige."
TWO OTHER innovations Maxon used in displaying objects in the Art Institute were burlap cloth wrapped around pedestal of sculptures and planters of philodendrons at their bases.
Green plants add a note of life and are desirable in a room of inanimate objects, he said.
He called the building housing the KU Museum of Art the most beautiful on the campus, followed closely by the old Fowler Machine Shops.
Maxon was director of the KU museum from 1948 to 1952, and was instrumental in its conversion from a library to an art museum.
HE RESIGNED his post here in 1952 to become director of the Museum of Art of the Rhode Island School of Design. He has been associated with the Chicago Art Institute since 1959.
Concentrating his interest on Italian art of the 16th century, Maxon has devoted particular study to the Venetian artist Tintoretto.
Maxon was born in Lawrence and attended public schools here, and the Cooper Union Day School in New York City.
He received a bachelor of design from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1945.
He received his Ph. D. from Harvard in 1948.
Guarding President Tough in Campaign
WASHINGTON, —(UPI)— The assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Warren Commission report have added measurably to the burdens of the Secret Service in protecting President Johnson during the current campaign.
The public and local police everywhere have become highly security-conscious. As a result federal agents have received an unusually large number of tips on potential evil-doers, all of which must be carefully sifted.
The Secret Service is not complaining. No threat is to small to be investigated. But a recent spate of stories about alleged plots against Johnson led to a widespread impression that the current campaign is unusually violent.
THE PRESIDENT'S protectors have not found this to be true. Their greatest problems are the speed with which the President conducts campaign trips, the numerous towns he visits in a day and his habit of leaving his car to shake hands with streetside crowds.
On the other hand, federal in-
Special Film Series presents
WALT DISNEY'S "THE GRAND CANYON"
showing
Mon., Oct. 26-4:30 p.m. Dyche Aud.
vestigators have found little or nothing to justify the initial alarm in most of the recently publicized threats or incidents involving the President.
Admission 25c
Sometimes an angry political comment in a bar is relayed and magnified to the point of appearing a deadly menace to the President's life. In other instances local police have released news on such threats before federal agents could check them out.
Official Bulletin
TODAY
"THE BLUE ANGEL," 7:30 p.m. Hoch
Auditorium
CATHOLIC MASS. 5 p.m. St. Lawrence Chapel, 1910, Stratford, Rd.
FRIDAY, JULY 16, CICS, and 9:30 p.m.
Friday Theatre, THE BLUE ANGEL' 7:30 p.m. Hoch
HILLEL FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICES,
7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center, 917
"WINDOWS OF THE SOUL-MAN'S
8 p.m., Forum Room,
Kansas Univ.
PUBLIC LECTURE. 8:15 p.m. 426
Lindley Hall. "The Role of Tectonic and Environmental Factors in the Origin and Distribution of Sediments"—Dr. Dan
"A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS," 8:20 p.m. University Theatre
p.m. University, theatre.
FRANK KENNEDY EVENING PRAYER, 9:30
p.m. Danforth Chapel.
SATURDAY
CATHOLIC MASSES: 6:45 a.m. 5 p.m.
Lawrence apol. Rd.
Lawrence 4:25 a.m. Rd.
Brantley 4:25 a.m. Rd.
INTERNATIONAL CLUB. 8 p.m.
Big Eight Room, Kansas Union. United Nations Panel Discussion p.m.
Taskets. Refreshments and mixin' flavors. Refreshments and mixin' flavors.
"A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS," 8:20 p.m., University Theatre.
CATHOLIC MASSES. 8 a.m. St. Lawrence Chapel, 11 a.m. Central Road. 9:30
Pastor's Theater
UNITED CAMPUS CHRISTIAN FELLOWShip, 9:15 a.m., Westminster Center, 1204 Oread. Morning Worship, 10:45 a.m. CARLILLON RECITAL, 3 p.m. Albert
SUNDAY EVENING FELLOWSHIP. 5:15
p.m., Westminster Center, 1204 Oread.
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