The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-29
The Academy of Fine Arts.

| DuJy OI uuSDduuS.
The Academy of Fine Arts,
To OUR appreciation, there is in thequietness OF
| picture gallery an attractiveness that few
| other places possess; there is so much that is
| suggestive of lives passed in the calmness Of
! peaceful studies There, for example. HANGS n
| little unpretending landscape: you glance upon
| ii as you pass, and probably content Yourself
with some such observation as "Very pretty. ,,
or "a nice little effort" or some other half in
different remark, without once thinking that
he who limned the bright-edged sumach blend.
ing SO gracefully with the yellow of the golden
rod" adorning the foreground, NAV have
placed high hopes upon the success of the work
you so patroniz'ngly survey. A fond mother,
or may be an affectionate sister, too proudly
sanguine to anticipate failure on the part of
one whom they regard as the very embodi-
ment OF artistic talent gave that work parting
look OF admiration before it was taken from the
paintiI groom to be nearly If not quite, mega
tived in the neighborhood of larger or better
canvases.
We admit that a knowledge and a sympathy
for these things cause us to think tenderly of
much that we cannot conscientiously praise
Many an ardent lover of the beautiful lacks
power TO express in pictorial representation
the thoughts that may animate his heart. Let
us, then, be charitable TO all, when the exercise
of ofthatfeeling does not interfere, ir too great O
degree, with the faithful discharge of our
duties. 1t is very much the fashion to affect a
iear1ully satiric tone in art criticism and if we
fail in attaining the standard of bitterness
usually displayed in essays Of this nature, we
snail rely upon the indulgence for this our
shortcoming, that our faith in the kindly feel
ing OF our readers leads us to expect. An artist,
when he paints something very bad, is certainly
to be commiserated, but we cannot believe
that the misfortune should render him a butt
and laughing stock for half -fledged witlings.
There are men ofvast reputation who have pro-
duced much that is both weak and silly; and,
reasoning from this when we see a work that
jars against our feelings of artistic propriety
let us assume that in the mind of him who pro-
duced it may be lying dormant the genius of a
Paul Veronese.
On the other hand, nothing is more prejudi.
cal to the true interests of art than general and
1ndiscriminate praise-entering the first gall
lery with catalogue in hand and pencil ready
to make such comments as: mo. is good"
"No. 2 is BETTER" mo. is sweet" and so on
until the expressions OF beautiful" "charm-
ing" perfect" are exhausted, only to be re-
commenced and applied until the last number
in the catalogue Is dismissed. This style of
c,iiqIe soon renders the writer thereof bank
IuplS 30 ldI db JuG NdluS Ol Ills praise Is COn-
cerned, and makes him poor indeed. In con-
nection with our subject, it may be remarked,
as popularity, that very few of the really best
works of the French and English schools are
imported into the United States. The Germans
as we all know, are fully represented, but how
often do we see the chefs deuvre of such men as
Gerome, Cabanel, Hebert, or Paul Baudry?
Certainly, a few paintings, signed by these
names, are to be seen in some collec-
tions, but they are generally OF inferior
quality, and give no idea of the superlative
merits of the authors. Again, where shall we
see the compositions Of Millais, Maddox, Brown,
Stangfield, or Landseer, who aIe eminent in
the English school OF painting? The answer is
to be found in the fact that the people of those
countries take too much pride in the encour
agement of their artists, and pay such prices
for their works, that American dealers are
debarred from the chances of obtaining them.
Would that Americans were actuated by the
same amour prOpre for, although we profess to
be thoroughly cosmopolitan in all things con-
nected with art, yet even that feeling is not in
compatible with the desire to see American
artists encouraged and literally protected in
their pursuits.
AS a proof of the poor opinion that is gene
rally entertained in France concerning our cul-
ture as a people, we may perhaps allude TO the
enterprise inaugurated by well'known pic
ture-dealer of the Rue de Richelieu, Paris. IL
appears that the members of an artists cluo oil
that city, having number of their early pic
turesl lying in disorder around their STUDIOS,
and for which they could not tind purchasers
on account OF the decided inferiority of the
material, determined to send them TO America
being as they supposed, just the articles to suit
the taste of "MeSSielTS les SaUageS." They
formed very shabby collection when brought
together, but il was leavened here and there by
pictures of Barron, Diaz Chaplane, and hur-
ried sketch or two of Troyon's. The majority
OF the pictures were very bad. but then the
Americans are an uncultivated people, and will
be only too glad to have a chance of buying.
soreasoned our French friends, but they were
doomed TO bitter disappointment. for after
hawking them from city to city, and making
shsm sales under the hammer an immense