The New York herald., 1876-12-12
Art Collections.

In the world of art the collector is power,
because in addition to the sympathy he
must possess with what is beautiful and
excellent in art workmanship he is supposed
to possess special knowledge as well as great
wealth. It is not enough that he is an
sdmirer or sympathizer with art; he should
be learned in the branches of workmanship
he protects, in order that his work shall be
truly efficient and his teaching authoritative
Wealth alone may enable q man to acquire
ownership of art works by artists with great
names, but culture is needed to confer au-
thority, to influence or guide public taste. We
have in America goodly number of wealthy
gentlemen who aspire to rank as art collec-
tors, but their fame too frequently rests
on the possession of few master
pieces which are lost amid mass of
quently termed a collection. Now nothing
would be more distasteful to true connois-
seur than the presence in his house of an
art work which possessed no special merit
It would be to him source of constant an
noyance and humiliation which he would
remove from sight at the earliest opportu-
nifty. As rule our American collections
show o complete absence of this artistic
feeling which is no doubt due to the fact
that collections are made, in very many
cases. because it is fashionable to have pic
lures rather than from any real sympathy
with art In collection worthy Of unre-
stricted praise no poor or questionable work
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see many such collections organized while
our collectors depend in great part on the
assistance and advice Of dealers in making
their selections. The picture dealer is es-
sentially tradesman, however much he
may try to hide the fact under an assumed
sell his wares ut the highest profit
to himself. AS a result good part Of his
operations consists in selling great names to
people who do not know enough to Judge
correctly for themselves. Thus works by
Gerome, Fortuny or Meyer Won Bremen
have for the picture dealer an arbitrary
value quite independent Of the actual quality
of the picture which is to be sold. Indeed,
so well has this come to be recognized that
there exists in all the great European studios
something in the nature of a manufacturing
department., in which the smallest possible
quantity of work is spread over the largest
possible amount Of canvas for issue to the
trade, and we regret to say that most of
those hasty and ill-digested pictures are
disposed of in the American market at
prices that must fairly astonish the in
genuous dealers who introduce them. The
cure for this evil lies in the cultivation Of q
sounder and more exact judgment among
the class which at present patronizes art,
so that people will no longer be
tempted to buy art works merely on
the reputation OF their authors but
will see to it that what they purchase
will not only be the work of good artists,
but the good work of good artists, which is
the essential point We have fortunately
outgrown to certain extent the idea that
valuable picture must necessarily be large
one and that to get the worth of ones
money it is necessary to receive so many
square yards Of canvas. The sums paid to
Meissonier for pictures only few inches
square would make the purchasers of art by
the yard hold their breath; but any sound
Judge would decide that the investment in
those small gems is tho safest and
best, whether from an art or Q business
standpoint This is q satisfactory prog