The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (18157591382)

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo18amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library



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288 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
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In a gown of her own designing.—A class of advanced students in Teachers College, Columbia University, under Miss Ruth Wilmot, instructor of costume design, has created many modern gar- ments along lines of form and decoration suggested by a study of specimens in the American Museum. The success of Miss Wilmot's work is attested by the fact that most of these garments have found ready sale among professional designers with the view of applying ideas, either in decoration or in line, to modern cos- tumes. Instead of the usual method of importing modern foreign costumes (themselves based, generall)^ on for- eign museum collections), our design- ers, familiar with the practical needs of today, have gone direct to original documents for their inspiration. The work, therefore, marks one of the most important movements in the develop- ment of a truly American type of in- dustrial art. Last year I described in the Journtal a similar development among the fab- ric designers in this city. It may not be out of place to note that this work has continued steadily, that the results have been not only artistically but also commercially successful. Many of the most interesting designs in printed silks and cottons now on the market owe their origin to some specimen in the American Museum. Not a day passes l)ut I see some textile design either worn in a garment or on display in a shop window that owes its origin to museum inspiration. Thus the Mu- seum has been responsible not only for commercial prosperity but also, by the character of the designs, for an im- provement in national taste. In spite of the importance justly attached to fabric decoration, costume designing is of more vital moment. The problems of the costume artist (■()ni))rehend not only surface decora- tion, but color combinations, use of ornament, the general outline or sil- houette, and a knowledge of the mass psychology of woman. The perfect artist in dress must have not only some of the feeling of the painter, but also of the sculptor, and added to this rare combination, a vision suflficient to judge the general feeling of women at least six months in advance. One lesson we have learned from the war is the necessity for cooperation. The development of our natural resources, the proper expression of our national life, rest upon the perfect cooperation and coordination of our physical and in- tellectual powers. The basis of modern life is a perfectly regulated industrial system. If we are to endure as a great power, if we are to hold and advance our place among the great democracies, we must employ not only the skill and