October 2, 1929: Announcement of the plans, as far as they have been settled for this present season at the Brooklyn Museum has just been made. The first event of importance will be a dedicatory recital on the large pipe organ which has been presented to the Museum by Mrs. Edward C. Blum, wife of the President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. This is scheduled to occur on the afternoon of October 28th when Dr. Lynwood Farnum will give the recital and the organ will be accepted for the Museum by a City official who is a member of the Board of Trustees.
In the Department of Fine Arts the First event will occur in November. The painting galleries will be occupied by the work of New York public school children to show how the art appreciation courses in the schools are carried on. The results of the courses illustrated by examples of pupils' work. In December an event of extreme importance will be the presentation to the public of a large section of early American rooms arranged on a unique plan. At the same time the painting galleries will exhibit the most complete collection of the works of the late Walter Shirlaw ever gotten together. In conjunction with this will be shown the work of students of the summer class of the Art Department of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, of which John R. Koopman is the head.
The season has already started in the Print Department where an exhibition of recent accessions has been arranged. This will be fol,owed by a showing of modern Norwegian prints from the middle of November to the end of December. After this will come the Annual Exhibition of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers which will open on January 7th and extend to January 31st.
The next event of great importance will be the opening of the Belgian Exhibition of Fine Arts a large show sponsored by King Albert of Belgium, the Belgian Government and the Belgian Ambassador to the United States, the largest entirely Belgian show ever seen in this country, This will open January 20th and be on view through February.
Another event which depends upon the completion of installation work is, therefore, indefinite as to date, is the presentation to the public of Japanese gallery which is undergoing complete re-arrangement. The result will give the public an idea of the richness and extent of the Japanese collection which it has never had before.
Plans for the late winter and spring are not so far advanced as the above but three events have been announced. In March a splendid exhibition of art objects from Java and Bali will be arranged by Mr. Tassilo Adam, Associate Curator in charge of Oriental Art. It will consist of his collection of batiks presented to him by the sultans of Java, Javanese paintings, casts of sculpture from the temples of Borobudur, Buddhistic images, Javanese puppets, and Balinese idols. Plans are being considered for a general exhibition of textile art some time during the season and the late spring it is planned to arrange an international exhibition of both indoor and outdoor sculpture.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 10-12/1929, 086-7.
October 17, 1929: The Brooklyn Museum will put on public view this season another of its large European travelling exhibitions, the Belgian Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture sponsored by King Albert of Belgium, the Belgian Government and Prince Albert de Ligne, Belgian Ambassador to the United States. This will be the first exclusively Belgian show of such importance that has been seen in this country. This exhibition was organized to show to the public of the United States the advance which Belgium has been making in art during the 20th Century.
In the matter of date, the exhibits begin with the work of the famous artist Meunier, the sculptor, who died at the end of the 19th Century. Practically all the rest of the work is representative of artists who have been working during this century. It is thus retrospective for thirty years and at the same time shows the advance of Belgian art up to and including present conditions.
The distinguished committee sponsoring the exhibition is as follows: Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, President of the United States of America; His Excellence Prince Albert de Ligne, Belgian Ambassador to the United States; Mr. Edward C. Blum, President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Christian Brinton, Honorary Advisor, Roerich Museum, New York and Member of Kunsthistoriches Institute, Florence; Mr. Walter H. Crittenden, Chairman of the Governing Committee of the Brooklyn Museum; Mr. Bernard Davis, President of the La France Institute, Philadelphia; Mr.Robert W. De Forest, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Dr. William Henry Fox, Director of Museums of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Robert B. Harshe, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago; Mr. Horace Howard Furness Jayne, Director of the University Museum, Philadelphia; Mr. Fiske Kimball, Director of the Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia; Mr. Robert Lehman of New York; Mr. Andrew D. Mellon, Washington, D.C., Mr. C. Powell Minnigerode, Director, Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Mr. Franklyn Paris, President of the American Committee of the Legion d'Honneur; Mr. Eli Kirk Price, President of the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff of New York; Mr. Frederick Starr, President of the Alliance Francaise and President of the European and American Art Committee, Inc., New York; Mrs. Edward Stotesbury, Philadelphia; Mr. Cornelius L. Vanderbilt of New York and Mr. Joseph B. Widener of Philadelphia.
In detail the exhibition consists of eighty oil paintings, thirty-five works in black and white and thirty-five pieces of sculpture. It will open in the Corcoran Gallery at Washington in deference to the Belgian Ambassador on October 24th, where it will remain for a month. It will then proceed to Philadelphia and finally open in Brooklyn on January 20th to be on exhibition here through February.
Plans for the tour after its appearance in New York will include showings in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Toledo and Rochester. As the exhibition is greatly in demand by museums in several other states in the Far West and East this list will be expanded before the tour is over.
The last time such a large group of Belgian work was shown in the country was at the time of the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 10-12/1929, 092-3.
October 22, 1929: Several members of the Belgian-American Committee which is sponsoring the large Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture from Belgium, which opens Thursday, October 24th, in Washington, D.C. and at the Brooklyn Museum on January 20th, left today to attend the dinner in advance of the Washington opening given by the Ambassador from Belgium and his wife, the Princess de Ligne, a the Belgian Embassy. The party consists of Mr. Edward C. Blum, President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and Mrs. Blum, Dr. William Henry Fox, Director of the Brooklyn Museum, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Starr, Dr. Christian Brinton and M. Louis Pierard of the Belgian Committee.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 10-12/1929, 099.
January 6, 1930: The next exhibition of primary importance at the Brooklyn Museum will be that of Contemporary Belgian Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Art. This exhibition has international importance as it is sponsored by the President of the United States, his Majesty the King of Belgium and His Excellency the Belgian Ambassador to the United States. It has been assembled by a distinguished committee of American and European celebrities.
The exhibition will be officially opened by the Belgian Ambassador, Prince de Ligne, on the evening of January 23rd. Before the ceremony at the Museum the Ambassador will be entertained at dinner by Mr. Edward C. Blum, President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and Mrs. Blum.
There are special arrangements being made inside the Museum itself for this occasion and the Museum itself for this occasion and the exhibition will embrace an unusual feature which will be announced later.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 10-12/1929, 103.
January 15, 1930: The paintings and sculpture for the next large exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum have just arrived and are being unpacked in the galleries. These works of art comprize the large Exhibition of Belgian Art which has been organized under the auspices of the European American Committee and sponsored by the King of Belgium, President Hoover, His Excellence Prince Albert de Ligne, the Belgian Ambassador to the United States, and Princess de Ligne. The exhibition is to open at the Museum on Thursday night, January 23rd, which will be a formal ceremony. The Belgian Ambassador will give the official opening address.
This is the first all Belgian exhibition of fine arts that has ever been shown in this country. It is looked forward to in Greater New York with great interest as it has caused considerable stir in both Washington and Philadelphia where it has already been shown. It was opened in Washington in deference to its patron, the Belgian Ambassador. The exhibits are examples of work by Belgian artists of the last thirty years that give a remarkably comprehensive summary of the progress of Belgian art in contemporary times. The work begins as to date with Constantin Meunier, the famous Belgian painter and sculptor.
The committee responsible for the exhibition is Mr. Edward C. Blum, Dr. Christian Brinton, Mr. Walter H. Crittenden, Mr. Bernard Davis, Mr. Robert W. De Forest, Dr. William Henry Fox, Dr. Robert B. Harshe, Mr. Horace Howard Furness Jayne, Mr. Fiske Kimball, Mr. Robert Lehman, Mr. Andrew D. MelIon, Dr. C. Powell Minnegerode, Mr. Francklyn Paris, Mr. Eli Kirk Price, Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff, Mr. Frederick Starr, Mrs. Edward T. Stotesbury, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. Joseph B. Widenre, Mr. Owen D. Young, Mr. Francis Crowninshield, Mr. P.V.G. Mitchell and Mr. N. L. Amster.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 10-12/1929, 105.
January 17, 1930: To the Art Editor:
The exhibits for the Belgian Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Graphic Arts are not being arranged on the gallery on the fourth floor of the Brooklyn Museum and are available for review any time after you receive this letter. The exhibition will open on night of Thursday, January 23rd. The pictures will probably be hung by Tuesday but if you do not care to wait until that time and are willing to see them standing along the wall, they are available on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The catalogue is already printed so that it will possible to identify the exhibits easily.
Very truly yours,
ARTHUR H. TORREY
for the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03_1930, 003.
Date unknown, approximately 1930: The official opening of the Belgian Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, because of its international aspect, was an important event that brought together a distinguished company. Before the opening in the evening the guest of honor, who is one of the sponsors of the Exhibition with the King of Belgium and President Hoover, namely, His Excellency The Ambassador from Belgium, Prince de Ligne, was entertained at dinner by Mr. & Mrs. Edward C. Blum at their home.
The guests were:-
Prince Albert de Ligne
Mr. Frank L. Babbott
Dr. Christian Brinton
Mr. Walter H. Crittenden
Mrs. Mary Childs Draper
Dr. & Mrs. William H. Fox
Mr. & Mrs. William H. Good
Mr. & Mrs. Raoul E. L. Grenade
Mr. & Mrs. Frederic B. Pratt
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Starr
Miss Anne C. Thomson
Mr. & Mrs. John T. Underwood
Mr. & Mrs. Adrian Van Sinderen
Those invited to act as hosts and hostesses at the reception were members and wives of members of the Museums Governing Committee and members and wives of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts & Sciences. They are as follows:-
Mr. Frank L. Babbott
Mr. & Mrs. Edward C. Blum
Mr. Walter H. Crittenden
Mrs. Mary Childs Draper
Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Frazier
Mr. & Mrs. William H. Good
Mrs. A. Augustus Healy
Mr. Alfred W. Jenkins
Mr. & Mrs. Luke Vincent Lockwood
Mr. & Mrs. John Hill Morgan
Mr. & Mrs. Frederic B. Pratt
Mr. & Mrs. William A. Putnam
Mr. & Mrs. John T. Underwood
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Bailey
Mr. & Mrs. E. LeGrand Beers
Mr. & Mrs. Henry H. Benedict
Mr. & Mrs. R. R. Bowker
Hon. & Mrs. James J. Browne
Hon. & Mrs. James J. Byrne
Dr. & Mrs. S. Parkes Cadman
Mr. & Mrs. William H. Cary
Judge & Mrs. Frederick E. Crane
Mr. John J. Curtin
Dr. John H. Denbigh
Hon. Jacob G. Dettmer
Mr. Gates D. Fahnestock
Mrs. James A. Farrell
Mr. & Mrs. Sumner Ford
Mr. & Mrs. Lewis W. Francis
Mr. & Mrs. John V. Frothingham
Mr. & Mrs. William T. Hunter
Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Jonas
Mr. Adolph Lewisohn
Miss Hilda Loines
Mr. & Mrs. William J. Matheson
Mr. & Mrs. Edwin P. Maynard
Mr. & Mrs. George V. McLaughlin
Mr. Horace J. Morse
Mr. & Mrs. James H. Post
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Pratt
Mr. & Mrs. Julian P. Fairchild
Mr & Mrs. G. Foster Smith
Mr. & Mrs.. Herman Stutzer
Mr. & Mrs. Adrian Van Sinderen
Dr. & Mrs. Edwin G. Warner
Rt. Rev. Msgr. John C. York
Also invited to act as hosts and hostesses were the following:
Dr. & Mrs. Frank L. Babbott, Jr.
Mrs. Walter Shaw Brewster
Mrs. Glentworth Reeve Butler
Mrs. William Hamlin Childs
Mr. & Mrs. Harris M. Crist
Mr. & Mrs. H. Edward Dreier
Mr. & Mrs. William P. Earle, Jr.,
Mr. & Mrs. William F. Eastman
Mr. & Mrs. Morris Upham Ely
Mr. & Mrs. George S. Frank
Mr. & Mrs. William Henry Fox
Mr. & Mrs. B. Meredith Langstaff
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick D. Mackay
Miss Alice Morse
Mrs. Henry F. Noyes
Mr. & Mrs. Dean Osborne
Miss Julia J. Pierrepont
Miss Anna J. Pierrepont
Mr. & Mrs. John VanBuren Thayer
Mr. & Mrs. Winthrop M. Tuttle
Mrs. Edwin Carrington Ward
Miss Frances E. White
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03_1930, 004.
January 21, 1930: A distinguished gathering will mark the private view of the Belgian Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Graphic Arts aththe Brooklyn Museum on January 23rd. His Excellence the Prince De Ligne, Ambassador from Belgium, will officially open the exhibition which is sponsored by King Albert of Belgium, President Hoover and the Belgian Ambassador. Preceding the reception at the Museum, Prince de Ligne will be entertained at dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Blum. Mr. Blum is President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. The exhibition is internationally interesting as is shown in the European-American committee which is sponsoring it. The committee is composed of Mr. Edward C. Blum, Dr. Christian Brinton, Mr. Walter M. Crittenden, Mr. Bernard Davis, Mr. Robert W. De Forest, Dr. William Henry Fox, Dr. Robert B. Harshe, Mr. Horace Howard Furness Jayne, Mr. Fiske Kimball, Mr. Robert Lehman, Mr. Andrew D. Mellon, Mr. C. Powell Minnegerode, Mr. Francklyn Starr, Mrs. Edward T. Stotesbury, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. Joseph B. Widener, Mr. Owen D. Young, Mr. Francis Crowninshield, Mr. P.V.G. Mitchell and Mr. N. L. Amster.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03_1930, 005.
January 21, 1930: To the Society Editor:
As it is nearly impossible to distribute a story of the distinguished people that attend openings at the Brooklyn Museum in time to get them in the paper the next day, we are writing to ask if you cannot send one of your representatives to the next opening, that of the Belgian Exhibition on the night of January 23rd after 8:30. The occasion will be particularly important as the Belgian Ambassador will officially open the exhibition. The publicity department of the Museum will be glad to render any assistance that it can in the matter of helping to collect names but, as a matter of fact, a representative of your society department can undoubtedly recognize more of the well-known people that the publicity department of the Museum can.
Yours truly,
ARTHUR H. TORREY
for the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03_1930, 006.
January 21, 1930: To the City Editor:
In case you wish to send a photographer to take a picture of a group at the opening of the Belgian Exhibition, I am writing to give you this reminder. The exhibition which is the first all Belgian show of its kind ever shown in this country and a very comprehensive one will be an important event. It opens after 8:30 on Thursday evening, January 23rd, and will be attended by His Excellence the Prince de Ligne, Ambassador from Belgium, who will officially open the show. Special arrangements will be made for photographers to take a group of the distinguished guests in a part of the Museum where flashlight is allowed.
I suggest that the photographer look me up as soon as he arrives in order to find out under what conditions the pictures can be taken.
Very truly yours,
ARTHUR H TORREY
for the Brooklyn Museum
AHT:FS
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03_1930, 007.
