The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-15

Inc low prices which have been drought AZ
certain recent picture sales are due, we think,
10 other causes than an alleged lack Of interest
in art. However prejudicial to art these causes
may be, at least temporarily, we hope that
they will cease with tho immediate effects Of
our recent civil war. This is too great coun-
try, and it's people are endowed with too great
. recuperative power, to remain much longer
under the influence Of these causes; and as
soon as they shall be removed by the energy
OF our citizens and by the "sober second
thoughts" of their representatives in Congress,
we may expect to see art share in the general
revival Of all tho forces which constitute our
national lite.
The war itself has opened fresh and wide
field for the American artist Its Kaleidoscope
aspects offer innumerable subjects for the
pencil. At present, indeed, we must for the
most part content ourselves with what may be
termed the pictorial annals Of the war. But IL
each Of the many artists who accompanied either
the federal or the Confederate armies were
to reproduce with fidelity the scenes which he
has himself witnessed in camp, in the bivouac,
on the march or in battle. we should soon
accumulate abundant materials for the future
historians Of tho war on canvas. "Give us no
more battle pictures" once cried Charles Sum-
ner, in the antediluvian days, when he was an
apostle of peace. But hundreds of battles
have since been fought on American soil, and
il is not uniting that due records Of these
stirring scenes should be made by the artist
The war, moreover, occasioned greater ia
miiarity with the boundless variety Of Ameri-
can landscape than had previously been pos
sessed. The eyes OF our landscapists have been
opened to the fact that richer themes for their
skill exist than can be found in their wonted
hAunts near Lake George, or in the White
Mountains, or even along the shores of the
lordly Hudson and in the picturesque valley
Of tho Connecticut They have discovered
new points Of view for pictures throughout the
South and the Southwest-from Harper's Ferry,
tho valley Of the Shenandoah, the Falls of
James river, the twice historical Peninsula, and
the Wilderness, to the rice lands Of South Caro-
lima, the swamps and "pine orchards" Of North
Carolina, the cotton and corn fields of Ala
bama and Mississippi, the mountains and val
legs of Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee, to
tho sugar plantations of Louisiana and its
bayous. where one sees the beautiful live oak
the waving cypress. the yellow hickory, the
fau-leaved palmetto, the broad-leaved mag
nolia and the slender cane, together with the
sweet gum and common oak smothered in
creepers and Spanish moss, 10 the afair Ope-
lousas," with
Prariss and forests Of fruit trees
Under the feet garden Of lowers and the bluest OF
heavens
Bending above:
and. still further, to prairies stretching far
into Texas. even to the wild country Of the
Comanches" Eastern Tennessee, the Switzer-
land of America, would alone supply land
scapist with materials for lifetime Of study.
The Rocky Mountains and tho partially ex-
plorcd regions Of the Pacific slope open yet
wider prospects for American art
American life, moreover, must no longer
seem so prosaic to the eye Of an artist as il used
to seem. The features OF the heroes produced
by the war must be preserved by portraiture
for future generations. From the palatial
dwelling on Fifth avenue to the distant hut OF
the Western pioneer as interesting interiors
can BIO found as Dutch skill ever infinitely de-
picted. Our public meetings and the gather
ings at the polls on election days, to say nothing
Of the lively scenes Of the present sleighing
carnival, might keep dozen Hogarths busy.
And nature has lavished beauty enough ON
American children and young girls to give
immortal fame to any artist who succeeds in
doing justice to it. In fine, the American artist
cannot lack for subjects, and Notwithstanding
the temporary financial depression there is
ample wealth In the United States, and we
may hope there will be ample culture, to insure
him an abundant reward for greater efforts
than he has hitherto made in his chosen field
of labor. The painter, the sculptor aad the
architect must each find exercise for the highest
talent in supplying the growing demands of
society in our great republic.
The Late street Fracas-IIas society No
Righ<se
The inquest upon tho body Of Thomas
Sharpe, killed in the late fracas on Broadway,
elucidated testimony which entirely substan-
tiated the history Of the case already laid be-
fore the public through the columns of the
HERALD, even to the minutest detail. The YER
dict might have been anticipated, because
there were literally 8" cloud CT witnesses to
the transaction but q new question arises
as to the disposition OF the parties concerned.