In an age of commercialization, a look back at a century of Atlantic writings on the intrinsic value of art museums.

This is the third of a series on painting and sculpture in which critics, artists, curators, and connoisseurs will take part. ALINE LOUCHHEIM, who graduated from Vassar in 1935, is rounding out her third year as associate art editor and critic for the New York Times. She took her master’s degree at the Institute of Fine Arts in New York University, served as managing editor of Art News, and published her first book, 5000 Years of Art, before entering upon her present assignment, which is certainly one of the most busy and exacting in Manhattan.

An art and director who received his training at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, JAMES S. PLAUT resumed his duties as Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, after four years’ service in the Navy. As Director of the Art Looting Investigation Unit, OSS, he was responsible for uncovering the works of art collected by Rosenberg, Göring, and Hitler and hidden in Germany.