"Temperamental" as applied to artists carries no weight when applied to the men in the University's art world. There is perhaps no more heartening an example to be found than the way these men of three separate art units have worked together in complete harmony with their common goal in the furtherance of art.
The distinction between these three art units on the Campus is clear-cut. The Fine Arts Department teaches the history of art, through the medium of lectures illustrated with lantern slides and museum visits; the College of Architecture and Design, in addition to architecture and professional design, teaches the practice of art; and the Museum of Art exhibits art collections, both its own and traveling exhibitions. The Fine Arts Department itself utilizes the facilities of the other two to illustrate its teaching. Fine Arts students are urged to attend the art exhibits sponsored by the Museum of Art and, as part of their class work, visit exhibitions by members of the Art School to see art in process.
Interest in Fine Arts has grown tremendously in recent years. Professor George H. Forsyth, Jr., Chairman of the Department, lays this new interest not only to this co-operative spirit but particularly to the influence of the University's strong creative arts college in architecture and design. Though there is no direct connection between his department and the College of Architecture and Design, there is a solid personal relationship between the staff members, with the Museum of Art complementing the two in an in formal co-operative sense. Professor Forsyth also believes that there has been an unusual upsurge of interest in art throughout the country, as evidenced by more museums, and more art exhibits, because America is attaining a cultural maturity. In addition, he points out, the Americans are a very visual-minded people, as witnessed by our advertising, movies, and pictorial magazines.
Another outstanding work under the auspices of the Department is the publication of the scholarly periodical "Ars Islamica" through funds left with the University by the late Charles L. Freer, A.M. (Hon.) '04, of Detroit.
The study of Fine Arts is no new thing at the University. Back in 1853, during Dr. Tappan's presidency, a course on the history of Fine Arts was included in the "University Course" for graduates. Michigan was the third institution in the country to admit the subject, with Professor Alvah Bradish, A.M. (Hon.) '52, serving as Professor of the Theory and Practice of the Fine Arts from 1852 to 1863. His appointment followed the gift to the University of an alligator and specimens of Caribbean fish, and the post carried neither a salary nor the privilege of giving courses. This privilege, plus a salary of sixty-five dollars, were finally granted him in 1858, after he had delivered fourteen lectures on the fine arts. He returned the money, however, as he felt there was a lack of an enthusiasm over his services, but in 1861 he resumed his lectures due to popular demand by the Senior Class. As early as 1855, a fine arts collection was begun, and a museum was set up in 1858. The final establishment of the Fine Arts Department itself occurred in1911 under Herbert Cross, who was succeeded, in 1924, by Bruce Donaldson.
This growth of interest in fine arts at Michigan is fairly typical of the gradual increase of interest in the subject throughout the country.
Most popular course in the Department today is the Introduction to Art, which was opened to Freshmen last year, and presents "the nature of the visual arts and their fundamental principles of technique and expression, as shown in painting, sculpture, architecture, and minor arts of the past and present." In short, it is an art course designed to open a whole new field of culture to students.
Professor Forsyth feels that the purposes of this elementary course are: to give an understanding of the subject to students primarily interested in other fields, such as pre-medical students and engineers; to interest students in concentrating in Fine Arts; and to interest others in art to such an extent that they enroll in courses in the College of Architecture and Design.
Those students who do decide to continue in the Fine Arts Department find a wealth of courses to choose from. After the preliminary courses, the field branches out into: American Art, Modern Art, Great Masters of European Painting, Medieval Art, and Oriental Art, to mention only a few. It is understandable here, too, why some of these advanced courses are elected by students concentrating in other departments of the University. In the study of a country or language, the history of the art of its people is a significant element.
When studying the history of art, Fine Arts students are fortunate in having such a large colony of outstanding artists in the College of Architecture and Design. To name only a few of these men, who have earned national renown in the art world, there is Jean Paul Slusser, Donald Gooch, '35ed, M.Des.'39, Emil Weddige, M.Des.'38, Carlos Lopez, James Donald Prendergast, Alessandro Mastro-Valerio, Gerome Kamrowski, and Chet LaMore. The study of the work of any one of these men can do much for the Fine Arts student in his grasp of the subject of art.
In the College of Architecture and Design, too, Dean Wells I. Bennett, M.S.Arch.'16, emphasizes the fact that since their work has to dove-tail, a strong Fine Arts Department is of great importance to the College. He is very pleased with the present co-operation between the units, which has included the setting up of the Museum of Art.
These same views are held by Professor Jean Paul Slusser, '09, A.M.'11, Director of the Museum of Art, and acting chairman of the work in Drawing and Painting in the Art School. The exhibits which the Museum sponsors are for the benefit of both the College of Architecture and Design students and the students in Fine Arts, as well as for the faculty, student body, and general public.
It is the hope of Professor Slusser that more people can be informed of these exhibits and will take advantage of them. In following this through, the Museum has embarked on a program of buying works of art to build up the collection. One of the most impressive additions to date has been the recent purchase, in France and Italy, of twenty-four drawings which may serve to represent the French and Italian Schools of the 17th and 18th centuries. These will be on exhibit in the spring.
It is the further hope of Professor Slusser to build up the collection so that it will contain more really good material both for exhibition and for teaching purposes.
The dream of everyone connected with the art units at the University is to have a new Fine Arts building, so that this rapidly expanding work may be put under one roof. Both the Fine Arts Department and the Museum of Art are crowded for space, with cramped office quarters and in adequate storage space for the collections. For almost a century the University has been one of America's leaders in Fine Arts, and a building providing adequate facilities for this work would give tremendous impetus to Michigan's entire art program.
The Michigan Alumnus
Nov 22 1947, page 145
