New-York tribune., 1876-06-30
ANOTHER cESTESNIAL SUGGES7IoN

ANOTHER CESTENNTAL SUGGESTION.
WHY shouid lot the idea of oar Centennial
Lean Collection he carried out IN thc coming
week III every town where pictures or any
other objects Of art are owned by wealthy
citizens Some cultivated people in this
country are pcrpetually either bcwaiilng or
snceii1s at American ignorance of art. Yet
how do they try to remove that ignorance!
They themselves have the money to buy pie
lures or ercIayings and the opportunity to
study the great schools OF art III Europe.
They forget that their ncighborS who are Just
"a shrcwd and intelligent in their way, have
absolutcly 10 chance from one years oEd to
another to see picture or statue unless ihc
chrOmOs and the plaster casts IN the Sh"p
windows deserve the name. How can they
help being ignorant of art, it, rules, or l'S en-
ioymcut2 No natural sense Of beauty VIII
give critical appreciation of objects OF ant to
q man who has never studied them. j he
Southern European is surrounded 10y the
works OF great masters all his life. He learns
their language ~ he does lis mother ton cue,
uncon>ciously. The Englishman, if he chooses,
can see the great art treasures owned in the
kingdom at a nominal expense. The American
has no chance whatever.
This year is tie proper occasion for be
! ginning of reform. AS we stated the other
day, few Americans care 10 open their houses
10 the tramp of the multitude; but any of
them would be wiling to unite and exhibit
/ their pictures or objects of yItu IN n room
hired for the purpose and properly guarded.
/ They would give great untastcd pleasure 10
! their fcliow-citizcns, besides the chance of i'll
struction to be found nowhere else. There are
probaby 40 large galleries of paintings outside
of the three great seaboaId and one or two in
land cities. But there are many admirable
pictures scattered through the country, owned
often in dccaycd French and English families,
that settling in this country have inherited
these valuable hcir-lOoms. Even If the PIE
lures are not of the very highest order of art
they yet will elevate the taste and widen the
ideas of the great majority who regard the
illustrations in the weekly picture papers rs
the best which art can do.
Instead, Therefore, Of the unlimited fire
crackers anj pistols which make the Fourth
an oflcnse to decent ears and nostrlls all over
! the land, let every town or village open Tor
Il week or two a Loan Exhibition of pictures,
statuaIy, oEgIaVinps, Ilic-a-lrac, old rchcs, etc.
! The lenders Will he surprised To discover how
much pleasure they can civ" at a trihing cost
and how much this little sacrifice will promote
! kindly and nciShborly relations. Nor will their
| treasures be in any danger. An American
crowd is Il wcll-bred crowd, as shown every
day in the quiet, modest behavior of tens Of
thousands in the buildings of the Exposition.
The story that they punched holes in the pie
tlrcs with their umbrellas was long ago proved
to be a falschoOd. They crowd the English CAL
leIy not because they can appreciate the
pictures, probably, but because they do appre-
ciate the generous courtesy which induced our
ancient foes to send us of Their best. They
would not less recognize such courtesy in their
own town and people.