Four Drawings by Howard Giles Bulk Large Among New Gifts to Fogg Art Museum--Illustrate Principle of Geometric Base

Among the recent acquisitions of the Fogg Art Museum, four drawings by Howard Giles stand out for their general excellence. Three of them come as the gift of Dr. D. W. Ross '75, while the other is the gift of F. M. Avery of Brooklyn. They have already been on exhibit at the Fogg Museum.

Mr. Giles, who teaches art at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, is primarily interested in the geometric symmetry of his model or subject. He established a central vertical and the subject is then drawn between balancing diagonals and their reciprocals. In the process of the drawing, the lines of the representation take the place of the lines of construction, which in the end disappear.

These studies, which are reproduced by courtesy of the Fogg Art Museum, are particularly illustrative of the principle of representation which Mr. Giles professes. "Ophclia," "Julius Caesar," and "Adolescence" are the gifts of Dr. Ross, while the head of "Cassius" comes to the Fogg Museum from Mr. Avery.

The result of this principle of fine arts is that the extraordinary truth of representation which is to be seen in the work of such an artist as Howard Giles is not the slavish result of realistic limitation, but rather the truth of the imagination. The scope of the work is indeed limited to the directions and angles of a single right triangle, since the reciprocals to the diagonals are at right angles to them. Far from limiting the possibilities of the work, this method adds immeasurably to the possibilities of design. A strict symmetry in space relations is to be found in the heads reproduced on this page, and it is safe to say that it could hardly have been achieved without some such underlying principle of design as that which Mr. Giles has used.

One of the most important functions of the Museum is the preparation of men to fill the posts of curators and experts in large museums. In connection with this aim which has always been emphasized by the authorities of the museum, an article by Miss Margaret Gilman in a recent publication is of particular interest. Part of the article follows:

"Two pictures recently acquired by the Museum--namely a Madonna and Child by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini, and a Pleta by Carlo Criyelli--illustrate in an unusually interesting way the importance of this through technical knowledge.

"The Madonne and Child by Bellini--formerly in the Crespi Collection of Milan--was sent to this country in 1923 for a New York Collection. On the way the steamer on which it had been shipped caught fire, and the painting, though not actually damaged by the flames, was apparently rained by steam, which melted and cracked the gesso ground and loosened the paint. When the picture reached its destination, small pieces of paint all over the surface were detached from the background. Although the pieces were for the most part in place, a few of them through careless handing, had failed out of place and were found underneath other parts. To many the picture seemed a hopeless wreck, but the Museum authorities were anxious to acquire it, as even in its injured condition it was of value and significance.

"This picture was put into the hand of Mr. Herbert E. Thompson of the Department of Paimings a the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Mr. Thompson, after many years of study, had devised an aluminum panel for the preservation of pictures."

With the aid of this panel, the painting was removed entirely from the canvas, a new gesso foundation was applied, and the paint was replaced as it had been. In all, the operation took a year and a half of the most delicate work. The results were amazing to students of painting methods, since the picture today is an admirable example of one of the great Venetian masters, instead of being a total loss.