The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-15


ec and that Che opposon SSs@ e q have & suspicion ion
resut Of the personal spleen Of few dissatisfied
The insnuation contained in this naragrsnh 10 an
uncalled for, 30 at variance with ANYTHING ,e have
sald ana so entirely out OF the line OF legitimate ar
gument, that we do not deem it worthy Of notice II
would certainly be desirable II there cnu,d IVA .oat
ifee gallery OF art I'm this city but il ia NJ r,t 80
importance that we should have a Thoroughly organ
ized and emcient art school, with gallery trr -,
frst-class works The admission foos Co.. ~ e'n 49, "
portant portion of the revenue of the Acadonov !,
is perfectly proper that money for the snnro-t
of the institution should be raised in t,,,s ,
VIC houll NOT advocate dispensing with them at
% least unen solne other source OF revenue is pro-
vided. That the Academy has no endowmorts Itto
other educational institutions is smnlv hooo,,,, =,
has not been managed with any sort Of enorov No.
mas 1t displayed that kind OF enternrse ,vbicb 90
calculated TO win the regards of those who bovo
money, OF pictures or books which, under better cir
ouIstonces' they would be willing to give to we'll
conducted school of art and we heartily agree with
what the North american says on this noint ot the
end Of its artcle:-
"As regards our Academy we should he very od 70 sso
open its galleries free to the public and n ~ 70
peSsTre e. in eoondnp nd & 20 IMss end shall take great
u would be far better to make effort to increase ve1
tuition and crowd it full OF statues aDd oi te nS %
SS noe SOmmoo@S R FGgfGsF Gs n the and
that end we have no doubt would he gladly aeeented
Fat tbnF
queer ideas on the subject of art patronage and il
suggests as what might be done in this line n com
mission to Rotherme to paint a picture of the
"Battle of Germantown" somebody else to do a
hrst-class drop curtain for the Academy OF Music;
and for subscription to be started by s.the liberal
patrons of art in Philadelphia to engage Hamilton
or Moran to paint picture of the famous Battle of
the Kegs Something satirCal is apparently con-
Ceaed in this last suggestion, but the pont of the
joke is so fine that we are unable to see it.. so
we leave it to Messr5. Moran and Hamilton to study
out between them.
With regard to art patronage, the less that is said
the better Art in this country will never be worth
anything so long as it has to depend upon special
patronage. The duties OF the Academy in this line
will end when it gives our artists the proper sort of
an education when 1t adds first-rate specimens of
the works of our best painters and scuptors to its
collection, as to make its galleries represent the
progress and position of Philadelphia art and when
it affords our artists ample facilities for putting
their works before the public. The Academy does
absolutely nothing in this line and the case of young
Harnisch, to which the Bulletin referred yesterday
is a fair illustration. This boy (for Harnisch is but
a boy has that rare, very rare endowment genius
Some day he will make name for himself
and then the Academy of Fine Arts will be proud to
claim him as one of its pupils. At present Harnwisch
has no money and very little reputation and cOnse-
quenty neither he nor his works are of any impOr-
tanCc to the gentlemen who manage the Academy
be the patrons of art in Philadelphia The Cupid"
which was literally a labor Of love to this boy artist
is an eXquisitey graceful and pOetCal work. but it
has been waiting six years for purchaser, with very
little prospect of finding one. In the meantime the
young artist has labored and patiently
waited for recognition. His statue
woul do honor to the Academy, and some
day the institution may be happy its possessor
but when the sculptor offered it at price which, for
the credit OF the Academy, and for fear some art
patrons might endeavor to obtain it at about one
fifth OF its value, we refrain from mentioning, he
was cOldly put off with the plea that the Academy
could not afford the outlay, and did not purpose
makirg any purchases, except such works would
be practically useful to the students.
We by no means advocate the Academy buying
everything that needy artists-even If they happen
to have genus-may think fit to offer it. but the fact
Lthat it buys nothing, and does almost nothing
towards building up school of art, or encouraging
art in any way; and its general effect is to deaden
and depress all art enterprise in this city, much
So indeed, that many of our artists find that their
only chance of success is to emgrae to other quar-
ers. In this connection, it is significant fact that
Philadelphia artists who remove to New York,
or those who take up their residence in Europe, get
better prices for the pictures they send to Phila
delpha than they did when this was their home
Art must have the foreign trademark upon it before
it can find ready market in this city, and artists
not only go abroad but they sell their works at bet
ter prices IN other places than they 10 here rms
is due, in great measure to the fact that we have
no art school, worthy OF the name, which will edu-
cate artists and the public at the same tme and
many of our picture buyers, including good
many of the gentlemen prominently connected with
the institution have little regard for the Academy
as a school of art that they have become profoundly
impressed with the idea that only those works are
worth having that are produced elsewhere under
genuine art influences. There is a remedy for this
deplOrabe state of affairs which has been plainly
pointed out, and it, now rests with the Academy OF
Fine Arts to do something for the art reputation of
Philadelphia, or to see the work taken out OF its
hands and carried on by energetic men who under
stand the real necessities OF the case.
-, I~,N,19 II@-I~EO