, 1873-01-08
WASHINGTON.
Two New Paintings at the
Capitol.
f0WeIl's !" Baltic Of Lake Eria."
AMI Rloran's " Yellowstone
Valley"


NdLlltl NlAIat FAtEjLiIlR5s
From Our 0un Correspondent
Was,auEoN, Jan. /, 1873.
THE NEW rA1SrIHaH AT TIE CAPITOL.
W1,lo half tho town was Now Yoar calling,
tho nxon and scrows or cnrpentolp woro at work
on to Sonata Hito Of tho Capitol olioe, fnato1,-
ing into tho wall, ovev tho groat oast stairca1o,
rowcll's large printing Of "1ho Baltic OF Latso
Eric" For many years tho spot llnB boon occu-
piod by painting Of Washington mounted,
Tho cost Of powol's painting was ample to
layo contontod very considerable artist, viz.
525, 600. THO order waB glyen ulieiy by tho CO.
operation Of General sclcnck, who hold to tho
notion Of Nil pfotcctionints, Tint 1t Is better TO
encourage hal nrtist Of ono's own Slate than
good ONO Of son,o otlor stato. Mr.. Jay Cooke
perceived tho folly 0: this principle In art whom
1lo charged an Ohio! dy with commission to
paint put-iu-Bay, and 1t waB forwarded to him
insurod for $4,000. II vas condonod for at
1000, md laid away in tho loft with nuporan-
nuntod llro-scrocnu. Requicscat in spacei
N1r. Powell devoted all ILLS artistic gon1us
thereafter to drawing 1900 In parcels from tho
Library Fund and noglcctng tho painting. After
l,o Ind been subjected to good loal Of dis
paragomont, l,o waH compelled to satisfy the lii
brary Committee with d bill Of ea1o; md ho now
proposcs to complete 1t, p:loriod aftera fashion,
III it l,npgs upon this wall Might all who work
with l,alf-collsoieMco for dond horao conaout to
pay auch public oxpiation!
THE mo PICTURE.
Tho painting III itself is not unworthy its pur-
pose aud plaoo. It iB 30 large Us to chow boat's
crew Of mon, life-sizo, in the foreground, md
tho lnllB Of Royoral yeHses near ut hand, higl
and full. It alao shows considerable Of tho ac-
ton Of tho nnatn co1nbat between tho tlcota, and
son,e hoatins rigging, md people.
Tho composition il scant, aa If tho
artist did not want to do br,.al-Htroke moro
work Than would satisfy tho bond; but this very
negligence gives m oponnegs to tho wntor-viow,
kccpb the cye intent on the coutral episode, and
tho story Of Tho battle IL not confused with do
tAifs.
Tho ntudy is porry's abandonment OF one flag
ahip for another, nftcr tho first hau bccomu u;l-
manageable. Flo is Hoon standing in row-boat
pulled by ha1f-a-dozon mon, aomo Of whom aro
wounded, tho boat itself is sp1intorod, md all
arc working under certain apprehension,
to say panic,--cxccpt the Commodore, who ia
braced up to tho yorge Of tho dramatic, as If Ito
also feIt tho situation, but was the actor Of it.
Hin helnsnan is disconcortcd, but everybody,
Bailor-fAshion, oboys orders automatically,
ard with minutia whiol, gives aomo reality to
tho Bubjocti for INSTANCE, ono woundod follow
witt, aailory sensblity, and ali tile mon in tho
boat ara looking various ways, rs mon are apt to
do In close action, where tho bursting Of sLplp
md vnriona movements attract cachmnn accord
poar to DO seeing through their oars, which iia
right onongh for sailor ro'sn With Ills hands
aud ears, md IL entitled to his eyoB. Tho boat-
swain in this picture appears to bo protesting.
Ittlo bit With Perry, which Is not unnecessarily
self, with ono ],and quietly Oh his Bhoathed cut
lasa, Ia pointing toward tho vessel ho wishes to
bonrd, and resisting the opportunities OF lad
who is afraid, undor tho circumstances.
Tho CRITICISM on, this picture will probably
1ty Of tho boat to carry its crew upon the rel
n(iyo natures of tho persons md possibly
upon tho Buporflclalty Of tho idoa aud tic chnr-
acterB involved. An to color, tho time IN yot
kold that, for nationnt pictures, % in excellent
popular treatmcnt ig botter than any deeper at-
tempt which viii ploaHo tho fow and misn the
public aouHe, Apublic order like this should
not t,o used BY any artist to experiment for
doubtful iudividunsm or claEs-o -opinonat o1nosa:
as, for example, no man receiving public order,
tho intent Of which In undosHtood to bo tho
national pleasure aud inspiration, would layo
any right to uso tle late pro-Raphaclito treat
make nine-tonths of all tic yaitors ut tho Capi.
Considered with respect to its uHe and cnd.
and also to its depletion Of tho nlain roa1umn OF
this battle, Mr.. roTcli'n nov picture is a great
improvement upon hia Do Soto.
! said to tho Librarian Of CongrosH:
Whom have we capable Of doing any bettor
with hguroB on 80 groat an aro;7"
"What Is tho uao," he replied, "of filling
aucll nsoas boforo thoro is d national art ]? This
Capitol is not moant to DO ornamouteI through
out in BnHl0 Century.f
THE FIRST LANDSCAPE.
WnB alao struck with another ror,arA Of tho
Librarian, Which lo made with reference to
dootaop MeTsa" p%H!1tng newly "rri7on Of rho Vol
" It is premature for us to be going into tho
purchase Of American landscapes"
Moran's new landscape mas lobbied through
Congress by violating the lew which forbidn tito
art. 1t was brought, all flaming with yellow
light and bluo cascade, into tho old Hall Of Ron
resentativos,. whero it struck tho ayerngo NOM
ber as rcd flannel shirt would affect ail I,,llan
' Dn'ttop'holng began. Tho artist foil in his
$40 900, and then it was naid to DO dirt ollonp,-
which was true for 1t l6 tho most diluyial Of all
subjeots. It depicts great flBsuro or canon, In
tho yollow plains, down which 4 stream drops
md the cntiro fall is repeated tho trick Of put.
ting tho spectator III the line Of tho doscont
as VOL aB tile subsequent curront flowing to.
ward tho oyo. a rock-slof projoctn forward
from the foreground, and tho foliage IL drawn
like staEodrapory down tho sides, and this fore-
ground is deoply shadod, while nil tho central
aso1le an1 Is IN such ID dazzling yellow. amber and
The yallo Of this painting in about 81, 500, fairly
calculated. 10 tho Government It il worth lestB
than to an individual, because its artist can du-
took on tho Yollowstono and All tho country |
with chromoB which will presently cleapen the
eatiro range Of such subjects. Nations should
noyor buy landscapes. unless aBsociatcd with |
como depletion OF a national event. This is tho |
first tranHgre8sion Of tho kind.
CATLIN.
Juet forty yoara ago, an artist was landed at
tho mouth Of tho Yellowstone, whose consolen- |
tious and preserving endeayors to accomplish 4 |
great 1intional purpose III art met with hll,nilla-
tion and death at tho very period when AIr. |
iloratl's smart landscape Of tic Uppor Yellow
Btono arrived in tho Capitol This was George
C.!tlin, natiyo Of the Wyoming Valley Of ponn-
sylYania. llo WIS rewarded In London, In 1871,
1okt