The New York herald., 1866-04-29

mercial fair play. An armistice with Juarez
through the agency of the United States is
therefore the true course for Napoleon and
| Macmillan.
Art and Auctions-The swindles at Pic
ture Sales.
We publish this morning report of very
curious and amusing scene which occurred at
| picture sale conducted by Mr. II. FL. Leeds,
| at the old Dusseldorf Gallery. The auctioneer
and the owner Of the collection were very in
| dignant on account Of criticism which ap-
| peared in our columns few days ago, i'm
peaching the veracity OF the catalogue of the
pictures to be sold. The catalogue stated that
in the collection were paintings by Rubens,
Titan, Carlo Dolci, Vandyke, Teniers, Paul
Veronese, Wouvermans, Cuyp, Murillo, and
| other famous artists, and the auctoneer offered
| to give certificates OF the authenticity of these
works. We thought that almost every SEN
sible person knew that there are few if any
of the original pictures of these masters in
| this country, and that they would not be
hawked about at auctions if they were here;
but, in order to guard ignorant buyers from
protestations of the auctioneer, our critic very
properly informed the public of the real fac:s
| of the case. At this the auctioneor and
the owner took great umbrage; ani
when the sale was resumed on FRIDAY
| evening threats were made to forcibly
| eject our critic from the room, and a couple
| OF irate individuals INDUCED In the mos IRAN
4: A.. l.
| The public had taken the alarm, however, and
all the eloquence Of the auctioaccr coali moi
persuade them to bid high for the paiutne4.
The more he raved against the HERALD gnd the
| louder he boastcd Of the genuinrncss o! he
works he offered the more the bidders seemed
| to be convinced of the deception attempted 10
be practised, and the consequence was that
paintings cataloguod as by "the old masters"
sold for about the value of their framas Very
few of our readers will need to be tod thai If
these paintings had been genuine some Of them
would have been worth their weight in gold
and others could not have been purchased 1t
any price.
The fun of the performance on F.idly even
ing would not have been complete without tho
announcement that the establishment winch st
had so thoroughly exposed would not advcrii.e
any longer in the New YORK HERALD. This a.-
nouncemcnt does not at all surprise us. Like
some of the theatrical managers, these auo-
tionecrs of bogus pictures are AFRAID Of our
candid and impartial criticisms. They are IN
the condition of JEFF Davis-they want to b.
lot alone. Their business is no better than
that Of the Peter Funks who used to infest this
city, and a public exposure of their shams IS
fatal to them. II there be any law to reach
them we hope to see them advertised in the
police reports and sent to Sing Sing to keep
| company with Burnham, the mock auctoneer.
We do not apply these remarks solely to the
instance to which we have before alluded, but
to all sales in which picture dealers try to de-
lude their customers into the belief that they
are buying the works of Rubens, Titan and
Carlo Dolci. In the present case Mr.. Smith, Of
Philadelphia, and Mr. Leeds, the auctoneer,
may possibly err through ignorance. The de-
ceivers may also be deceived. They may con-
scientiously believe that original works by the
most celebrated artists are as plentiful and as
cheap as oilcloth. They may not be aware Of
|
and that any art gallery in this country or
Europe would be glad to purchase them no
matter how high the figure ut which they are
held. Some accident Of which we know moth
ing may have compelled Mr.. Smith, of Phila-
delpha, to sell what he believed to be his Paul
veronese, his Vandykc and his Teniers at auc-
ton for what he can get He may be an en-
thusiastic and benevolent gentlemen, anxious TO
disperse great works Of art among the people
and therefore willing to take fifteen, fifty and
two hundred dollars for paintings which would
be cheap at fifteen, fifty and one hundred
thousand II they were what be represents. Mr..
Leeds, who has sold many pictures may
have been deludcd into thinking that these
paintings were really b. the old masters, and
his conscience may have permitted him to
offer them at prices abont equal to those
brought by good phoiog,sphs. We give the
parties concerned the beneis OF every doubt.
We make every possible allowance To- human
crcdulity. But after oil this the fact remains
that these pictures we're not by Carlo Dolci
and the other masters, and thus Messrs. Smith
and Leeds can only escape the charge Of
deco pton by pleading an ignorance so gross
as TO prove them incompetent to conduct pic
ture sales In an intelligent community.
We are glad 10 say that the American peo-
pie are making rapid advances in their devo-
tion 10 art Thousands Of dollars ere appended
for pictures In this eity cverv week. There ara