The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-07-14
OUR CENTENNIAL LETTER

| SHO PAAHeAASS "a UTILITY AaA0SCCE;
Reynolds, Gainesborough, Barry,
and others of the great English
masters, and now that I have an
opportunity presented TO me in the
English collections of paintings,
feel sense of disappointment akin
to that of disgust. Sentimentalists
who rave over names that are asso-
ciated with greatness, or those who
haye educated their artistic senses
o that degree that they can supply
to the minds eye the faded colors
and lost tints, and see through the
blackened, cracked figures some
thing that was once grand and beau
tiful, may go into ecstacies over
them. but 1 cannot. 1 value a pic
tnre when it truly represents nature,
and not because it happened to be
painted by some one who was once
q great artist. Were some of the
pictures of these once great mas
tiers offered to me, and I not known
their great commercial value, 1 pos
itivelY would not thank one for
them as a present. The one by Tur-
ner is SO faded, and represents so
little either in ideas, beauty, or COL
or, that suppress Turner's name,
and exhibit it simply as a work of
art, and no one would look at it
except to wonder how it got where
it is.
In the same room with these pic
lures is large picture, loaned by
the Queen of England, representing
the marriage of the Prince of
Wales, and which is so valuable
that guard is kept posted over it
oil the time to protect it from inju-
ry. In this picture the Prince and
his bride are represented as stand
ing before the minister, in q grand
church, with the bridal train in the
rear, the Queen herself looking
down upon them from an alcove
above, while standing all around
them are officers ST the army, in
their brillisnt uniforms, and scores
of ladies and gentlemen. Each
face and figure is a portrait aa care
lully finished as though the picture
was intended TO represent that one
person alone, which taken in con-
nection with the magnificent cos
tunes, beautiful banners, stained
glass windows, and grained archi-
lecture of the church, makes it one
of the finest pictures, 1 have ever
seen. Gainesborough's portrait of
Duchess recently sold in England
for S53,15O. If the picture in this
exhibition is a fair sample of Gaines
6orough's work, l would not ex-
change this one picture represent
ing the marriage of the Prince of
Wales, for all the man ever painted
in his whole lifetime.
am well aware that 1 am flying
In the face of nine-tentts of all that
is written III regard to Art, but 1
have stood before these pictures
and studied them in every possible
light, and tried to catch the enthu-
s1asm, but cannot think otherwise.
Lest your readers should think that
this is the opinion of one who new
er touched brush, and VINO knows
nothing of what a picture should be,
L will merely state that two years
of my life was spent in a studio un-
der the instruction of an artist
whose reputation extends through
out this country. Each one must
judge for themselves, but when 1
see person going into ecstaeies
over an old faded picture, in which
scarcely one thing is distinguishable
from another, I set it down as
"bosh" and "sentimentalism," and
simply put on because it is fashion
able to praise the works of "great
masters"
In the Main Building in the
French collection. are a number of
MAGNIFICENT specimens of Aubusson
Tapestry, from the small covers for
chairs and sofas, up to large pictures
10 or IL feet long. Two of the
large pictures represent Harem
scenes, and another a great wolf
brought to bay by a number of
hounds, which stand barking
around. Each one of these pictures
have 1900 different shades of color
in them, and cost $4,000, gold, each.
There are several smaller ones, but
all of them are very fine, and
short distance away would be mis-
taken for oil paintings.
One can tell the moment they pass
into the French section, in the Hall.
by the beautiful finish, and amount
of decorations that is expended up
on the articles exhibited. One who
has not seen them, will never be-
lieve how much fancy and decora-
ton is expended upon ladies shoes.
The uppers are made of every hue
of satin, silk, velvet, kid, and leath-
er, aud are ornamented with EN-
broidery, lace, gold and silver but
tons, large clusters of diamonds.
and other valuable stones, while the
heels are inlaid with the most deli
cate fiIagree work of silver and
gold. Some are lined with padded
silk, and Ornamented outside with
garlands of flowers that are worked
with colored silks. Pat q pair of
these shoes on most women, and it
would take set of fifty pound
weights to keep their skirts down.
The shape and make of the mems
boots are also very elegant.
In Machinery Hall is an elegant
specimen of an Ice Yacht. A long
CROSS beam, having a rudder under
each end, has the usual jib and sail
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