'Portfolio' Revived

Two winters ago, Portfolio, a magazine devoted to reproductions of the best graphics by Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduates, made its appearance in the Square. This fine effort to stimulate interest in the visual arts in the University was headed by Ben Shahn, then the Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer. With funds supplied from a private source and with the cooperation of the Department of Fine Arts, the venture promised an increased audience for the undergraduate artist. Unfortunately, there was no second issue of this fine publication.

Now, as Harvard prepares for its Corbusier-designed Center for the Visual Arts, the question of University encouragement of student efforts in the fine arts comes up once again. Though for the past few years the Fogg Museum has given space for the showing of student works of art, on recent efforts has been made to revive Portfolio.

It would be welcome to see funds provided for a magazine on the plan of Portfolio which, even more than Fogg exhibitions, could familiarize the Cambridge community with the graphic art of the best Harvard and Radcliffe artists. As well, the regular appearance of such a magazine might increase the productiveness of undergraduates in this medium. Certainly this effort would provide a useful outlet for undergraduate art.