The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-21
Great Prices for Pictures.

Great Prices for Pictures.
More valuable works OF art aud elegance
have been offered ut auction in New York
within tho last three months than have
ever before been so exposed for sale in the
same time in America.
OF all these sales that Of the JOHNSTON
collection of paintings, now in progress,
is the most remarkable, both for the quail
" Of the pictures and their intrinsic value.
Ii is indeed the most important sale
of a private collection of wok ks of
art we have ever had. The prices so
far obtained have been on the average
fully up to tho value of the pictures, and
in some cases beyond II. The sale began
on Tuesday evening, when one-third Of the
paintings were disposed of for the cxtrnor-
binary sum of over s13s. 600. Among those
thus sold were included tho most cxpcn-
sive works of the collection, but the
sum obtained for tho whole Will easily put
this sale ahead of any of the sort on this
side of tho Atlantic. ana make 1T COM
pare fnvorably with the greatest picture
auctions OF London and Paris.
TIE price of pictures during the last
fifteen or twenty years has appreciated
enormously They have come To be worth
not only their weight in gold, but almost
| In rubics. The growth of wealth among
! the great manufacturers of England, and
| their ambition to possess pictures once con-
| fined to the nobility, and the simultaneous
| spread of the same ambition aud "A like
! tas among the rich men of this country,
! have tended to cause this advance in
the price of pictures of approved merit, or
/ by famous painters. SO large are the
present values of such paintings that they
arc beyond the reach OF everybody except
the wealthiest. OF our picture buyers,
Mr.. JOHNSTON hus been among the most
liberal and public spirited. and that he
has selected his gallery with discretion is
shown by the avidtty with which his pic
lures are sought now that he Is forced to
sell them, aud by the high prices they
lrng.
OF the pictures sold on the first night OF
| the auction, those which obtained the high
est prices were TURNER'S "Slave snip"
which brought $1,000; MEIssoNIER's " SOL
diers ut Cards" a painting of only about
six by nine inches. which was run NJ L.
S1l 800; MrLLER's Roll Call of the Last
Victims during the Reign of Terror of the
French Revolution" which fetched $500;
a little landscape by DIAZ, without n fig
uie in it. and only aboIt nine inches
square, whioA brought $3.50; and MA
DRAzos Interior of santa MARIA
winch was captured, after spirited compe-
tition. at $3.50. Many others were dis
posed of at prices of l,OOO and over.
The pictures rs rule were, ~ pictures
now GO worth about what was paid for
them. Experience shows that paintings
| bought with SIX IA and discrimination are IA
good investment for those who have the
money to spare to put in them. Great rs
the prices obtained for the celebrated
works we have named were, II is pr liable
that their purchasers will ten years from
now he able to ger still more for them. II
is hard for person not accustomed II es-
innate the values of paintings to under
stand how n little canvas 10y MEl~soNfFR
which YOU might cover with your hand,
and about which there is no element of
sentiment or poetry, which does not slim
ulate tho Imagination or satisfy the fancy,
auI whose merits are solely IN the great
technical skill Of the artist, IN which point
he stands at the head of living paluters-
II is hard 10 see why such picture should
be worth over s1l,Cp0 The reason OF lis
salahle value, however, is that there is but
one MEIs,oNIrR and the number Of the
products Of his easel Is Of course limited.
The late Nv 4. T. STEW ART paid SGO, 600 for
a MEI>soNIER, aui all this artists pictures
readily command proportionate prices
TURNER picture is the very opposite Of
the MEisSoNIER. It's SO subtle IN it, sent i-
ment, and so bizarre in It's color aud treat
mcut, that uine Observers out Of ten would
pass II by as a mere blotch of paint Not
many years ago, a rich man Of New York
ordered one If TURNER's paintings. and
paid great price for II. When he received
the canvas from the ship, il looked TO his
eve so spotted and confused in color til I
he concluded the picture had been dam
aged by salt water, aud was much alarmed.
He found out afterwHrd, however, that il
was Just rs TURNER had painted 1t, aud
that hi- taste for that sort of art needci
cultivation -Or, rather, that he needed to
get up on TURNER'S own level 10 see
things a, the artist dd. TURNER was a
great painter, but his " orl<s do not appeal
10 the ordinary taste ard interest.
We are glad Mr JOHNSTON 3 collection is
bringi such prices. H. wa always libe-
raj ia opening his gallery TO visitors even
20 the Inconvenience of ms household, aud
has been an honest lover ofart for its own