ABSTRACT
F. Cleveland Morgan and the Decorative Arts
Collection in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Norma Morgan
1985
F. Cleveland Morgan (1881-1962) and his activities as
Curator of Decorative Arts from 1916 to 1962 are the subject of this thesis. Morgan's
education, his experience gathering his own collection, his associates in Montreal and in
museums in North America and abroad, are all examined in order to demonstrate how he
acquired the knowledge, judgement and skills that prepared him for this task. The original
concept that inspired the establishment of a museum at the Art Association of Montreal is
studied and the collection itself is analyzed. This, combined with an examination of
Morgan's correspondence and diaries, revealed changes in the collection policy during that
period. The decorative arts collection, or Museum as it was originally called, was
established as an Industrial Gallery containing specimens of different crafts as examples
for designers and craftsmen, but it gradually changed until its main purpose was to
demonstrate the history of art by including articles collected mainly for their value as
works of art.
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