REPORT ON THE SECTION OF GRAPHIC ARTS 

 IN THE U, S, NATIONAL MUSEUM. 1889. 



By S. R. KOEHLEK, Curator, 



Although, this section was organized in January, 1887, no official re- 

 port has as yet been made. The report now submitted embraces, there- 

 fore, the period between January 1, 1887, and June 30, 1889. 



It will be advisable to preface the general review of the work done 

 within this period by some remarks explanatory of the principal aim 

 which has been kept constantly in view in the formation of the collec- 

 tions of the section of graphic arts, in consouauce with the general 

 plan laid out for this section, from the beginning of the present organi- 

 zation of the Museum. This aim being of a peculiar character, on the 

 one hand, and the notions held by the mass of the people concerning 

 the nature and functions of art being, on the other, of the vaguest kind, 

 it is often found difficult, even by persons interested in art, to grasp it. 

 The concisest way of stating it will be to say, that the aim of the sec- 

 tion of graphic arts is to represent art as an industry. This must not, 

 however, be understood as implyiug the application of art to industry. 

 The expression must be taken in its literal sense, as conveying the idea 

 that art productions of all kinds, from the great frescoes of the most 

 distinguished painters to the slightest illustration produced by the 

 latest photomechanical process, are here to be considered, primarily, 

 from their material, that is to say, their technical side. Art thus takes 

 its place in the scheme of the Museum, side by side, and on terms of 

 equality, with the other great industries, — agriculture, the fisheries, 

 mining, transportation, etc. — and the artist is recognized, not merely 

 as an ornamental appendage, whose useless labors may be ignored 

 with impunity, but as a valuable member in the social organization 

 of mankind, whose creations answer to a human want, and whose 

 material necessities it is quite as important to understand and minis- 

 ter to as those of the farmer, the wool-grower, the fisher, the engineer, 

 the weaver, and so on. This view of the matter does not in the least 

 degrade art, as those are apt to think who approach it exclusively from 

 the sesthetic side. It simply recognizes the fact that art stands upon a 

 material basis, in common with all other branches of human activity. 



Jt appears from what has thus far been said that the ultimate aim 



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