The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-05-29

u
strange Movement Among the Artists.
we learn from the New York Herald, that
+, de,esstion Of artists IL bustly loooying IN
washington TO obtain the passage OF law
1910 ar,v AZ one dollar an inch In length
and breadth. upon all paintings. and corree-
,,onSinY duty upon all engraving, to b mere
.c,.r ,mnor,ed from abroad. Such duty
,,,,,, .hut ont all such specimens Of the hne
,r,. =. implicitly as though they were posi-
.:,..,v rrohibtted under tho penalty Of death
<,- ,n. ,erst infringement Of the law, and II 10
,,r,,,o,.d a, time when it il well known
that. with respect to engravings. at least, our
publishers are compelled to send abroad, for
al, those Of the Amer descriptions. The mo-
festy Of this demand has no parallel in the
history Of legislation, so far As we can recol-
lect and the idea of rating q picture by its
lene thand breadth is worthy OF all commenda-
ton. 1t 10 not exactly original. but it 10 very
nearly So That veracious chronicler, master
DIHpRicH KSICKxRBocKER, assures us that
the Dutch Fathers Of Manhattan once fell
upon the notable expedient Of raising revenue
by laying tax upon the brains OF authors,
and as they had no direct method OF ascertain
ing the exact quantity and weight enclosed
within the limits of each particular skull,
they initiated the system Of q horizontal
tariff, and levied a duty of SO much per pound
on every imported volume. The ingenious
artists of the Washington lobby are the only
persons within our knowledge, who have
thought this illustrious stroke Of financial
skill worthy Of imitation. Learned in picto-
rial lore, and profoundly vereed in the art Of
counterfsiting nature, they can think of no
better method Of determining the value of a
MAGpALRSE by CoREaeIo, or a MADONNA by
RAPHAEL, than that of ascertaining the
length and breadth Of the canvas they occupy.
and acknowledging difference between TRuM-
BULLS picture of the Declaration" and
LEoSARDO's "Last Supper" save such as may
be found in the relative number Of square
inches which they respectively fill.
1t will be observed that the proposed law,
with q Justice memorable Is death, deals alike
with all pictures. the bid as well as the good.
IT is the duty Of all men who are commission
ed to form galleries for public institutions, to
use all the means within their power to rem
der the collection as perfect rs possible 1t
IL we'll known that there thousands of
pictures. throughout Europe, in public galle-
ries and in private collections, that could not
be purchased for the ransom of king. If it
were possible for the agents of any American
gallery galleries, TO obtain possession even Of
ons of these, the acquisition would be price.
less. And yetby this proposed law it could not
be introduced into the country without paying
60 much an inch for it at the Custom House,
at the very time when 1t 10 thought necessary
TO slim ulate the growing taste for art, by ex-
hibiting the best models it is possible to pro.
cure. II an instituton--say the University
of Virginia, for mpie--should fall heir to
the gallery of Florence or Dresden, or the
Louvre, it would be compelled to pay an in
caicuiable sum, although the introduction
would confer an inestimable benefit, and al
though the absence of such q gallery is above
everything else. what all artists are accus-
toned to deplore as the saddest deficiency of
the country. The desire of every nation to
have all the good pictures Of every other ma
ton is SO general, that 1t may be considered q
trait Of human nature. The first thing ma.
ton does, when it conQuers another, is to
plumber it of its pictures and statues. Rome
plundered Greece and Sicily, and France
plundered all Europe, SO great an object has
ii been considered, in oil times, to have the
masterpieces of art in possessio& This pro-
position is the only one in all history, so far
as we know, that affxes penalty to the in
PRODUCTION of the masterpieces.
LIE pOpulaI TASTE ART In tnlS country
still rude; but it exists to a very great extent
and only wants cultivation to become univer-
sal. There is scarcely any home SO humble
that prints, engravings, or daguerreotypes
may not be found in it. Humble as these may
he in their pretensiOns, their existence in the
places in which they are found, indicate a
certain degree OF fondness for the arts which
only requires fostering. As nothing can
be more humaniZing than the fine arts, so no.
thing can be more import nt than to place the
best pictures they can afford to buy within
the reach OF the poorer classes. The cheap
prints that are imported from abroad, and the
introduction of the daguerreotype, have had
prodigious effect in creating love for the
arts in this country. They are humble speci-
mems, it is true; but they generate taste,
and that is the great point. The taste that is
created will improve from generation to gene
ton, and will end in producing great artists.
Italy would never have boosted Of her great
painters, had those painters not found the
population already deeply imbued with love
of art which had been growing for centuries
We hope Congress will do nothing to restrain
the growth OF that taste which is widely plant
ed in this country