The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-03
National Statuary.

Senator Morrill,, of Vermont. chairman
of the Senate committee of public works
and buildings, prints in the Boston .JouTnal
the speech on the Farragut statue which he
would have delivered in the Senate had not
Upton Of Nevada seized a moment when
he was absent from the house and "put
through" the resolution which practically
secures the job to Vienna Ream The Sc
lection of the model and the artist are left
to Gen. Sherman and Mrs. Farragut; the
latter had been secured in advance by Miss
Ream, and the general of the army, ac-
cording to Mr.. Morrill,, is ''too gallant a
man. to oppose the choice of the admirals
widow, so there is little question but that
the sculptures of the Lincoln statue ut
Washington will have the contract to raise
a "colossal statue" of Farragut for 500
600.
Mr.. Morrill, and a majority of his COM
mittee, however, were prepared to make n
gallant resistance. The government can
afford to pay for first class work, and for
no other. In the somewhat mathematical
proposition of the senator, 'to pay first
class price for second rate work is the car
mark of first class noodles" But some
thing is required to mako a sculptor. Every
school boy can caricature n horse, but not
one in a generation becomes Landseer
can extensive and critical study of SYM
metrical forms and living models as well as
the ideas of the great masters" strikes MIR.
Morrill, as II useful preliminary to the I'M
dertaking of government commission in
sculpture. The men who are not Land
seers have covered the world with failures
and hideosites" Ooh, senator, how could
YOU'D OF course, success does not attend
tho fire pnlpa nlNvnVe. sstba an
thor of the Ancient Laws of Rome was
ashamed of his own earliest productions
but government can't be saddled with these
immature experiments.
As to the method of getting works of art
done, Mr.. Morrill, has arrived at some very
sensible conclusions. Competitive exami-
nation of models doesn't work at all, be-
! cause only second rate artists will compete.
| No genuine artist wants to submit his work
| to the criterion of the general of the army
| and of the widow of the subject, or of any
other persons selected out of respect to them
and not for their artists sense. While Mrs.
Farragut would be very proper to consult,
| if the memorial were to be a bust for her
own parlor, she is hardly competent judge
| to sit on the merits of ga national tribute. "
What should be done is either to name some
conspicuous and justly famed artist as the
sculptor, in the resolution authorizing the
contract, or else to empower the president
to appoint commission of recognized art
connoisseurs to settle upon the artist and
compensation. The nation paid S15, 900 for
the Lincoln statue by Winnie Reani, or as
much as Rhode Island paid for her two
statues of Roger Williams and General
Greene, now placed in the old representa-
tives' hall in Washington. Mr.. Morrill,, to
whom by the way belongs the credit fhav
ing this room set apart for national statu-
airy to be contributed by the states, though
he is too modest TO mention it, observes
that the statues placed there by the states
give better satisfaction, are wrought by
more distinguished artists and cost much
less than those set up by the government.
Those states, in every instance, have either
designated the artist in the act authorizing
the outlay or have appointed a competent
| commission to select him. republican.