The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-04-14
THE NATIONAL ACADEnY OF DESIGN

"O,hS W S,u"i uiinehsions' irNia, Ill ueslgh
n"o iooo'o III oAecu'i"h' uley crowd inc walls OF
lhe several rooms overflow the corridor, and
ih'ane spaces along the stairway never before
occupied by WORKS oil art the exhibitors arc
ior inc most part unknown. ana are never
nkoiy 10 become prominent In ihe'r procession
whence thev OBTAIN living unless by the sale
OF their works ~ mystery not easily explained
Ihey must md market somewhere or they
would starVe IN these pinching times. which ID
suggestive OF the fact that there are In New
YORK. or Its neighoorhood' good many people
VINO buy original pictures. Inc quality OF the
work may not be remarkable. but TO make pur-
chases Of TINS KIND 49, on the WHOLE pe''er 'hah
To invest In chromos and colored iithographs'
The opportunity thus Afforded Tor spcculhuoh
ON the future OF American art tho reader Is III
liberty to investigate at his leisure.
The mediocrity In the display OF genre PIC
lures. TO which we have referred In previous
article. IL particularly noticeable In inc WORKS
OF home-brcd painters but IL by no means con-
lined to them. The fault lies less III inc 'ech-
nique. which Is never absolutely pau tnah III
the motive by which the artist Is inspired we
look for invention. Tor original IDEAS humor-
Gus or otherwise. and fail to ma them' nc
lures. as a rule do nottell story or even suR-
gest an incident OF Importance ana as this
defect is not redeemed by superior draw
ing. colorinR' or compost'oh' the result IL
peculiarly diSsatlsiyins' but our young ana
scarcely formed American school ID not alone
In this respect. Inc french genre painters
with all thelr admitted Skin as dranghtsmen.
their superb nhlsh' ana thelr deNterous en-
ployment OF color too frequently exhibit q pow
erty OF Ideas which seems. only possible OF ex-
PLANTATION on the theory That technical periec-
lion cannot nourish side by SIDE with NOBILITY
OF invention. That is to say the older artists
could design great pictures. but could not al
ways paint them. while their SUCCESSORS OF the
present day can produce wonderfully good
painting. but are thoroughly commonplace In
their subjects. That this IL no extrayagant
statement must be apparent to any one
who has seen painter OF the rank
OF Meissonnier lavish his wonderful skill
on a single lay figure. hnbited in tho cos
tune OF mousquetaire. The element OF the
picturesque Is not prominent in the domestic
life Of America and it Is difficult to illustrate
the humorous side OF our national character
without encroaching upon the domain OF carl
cature; but there are artists like Eastman
johnson and Winslow Homer. who have paint
ed homely American subjects, and painted
them we'll and we desire to see their example
more universally and more artistically fol-
lowed. The members Of the Society OF American
Artists have for the most part had tho advan-
tage Of studying in the best modern schools OF
genre painting. and We look to thom TO throw
of the trammels OF foreign mannerism. and
help to found a genuine national school.
Eastman johnson IL represented this year by
single genre picture. which is fully up TO tho
standard OF his best work. The title. Children
Playing in q Barn" No. 5i6. tells the whole
story. On beam above the hay-mow OF barn
a party OF children are sitting In row. in n
state oil nigh enjoyment. Mr. johnson Is not
notable Tor high hnish. and the figures oil the
children are somewhat coarsely painted. but
they are nevertheless genuine children. such as
may be seen about any farm house OF the better
class. and are grouped with excellent effect.
The chief merit OF the work is TO be found
In its rich coloring. The scarlet dress
worn by one OF the children lights up
the whole canvas without diinming or IN any
way disturbing the other details. Wlnslow
Homer mas repeatedly peeh seen at ocior al
vintage thhh In tue present cAilioiuoh. vi MS
! nVe "orKs on view -FOUR arc nun. III 'he corr-
uor' an uhusuai place ior IN Ac""eh'oi"h 10
occupy All are painted IN more sNachy ana
,. -. 49, n w",Io,' ~ - ",
,o- -io,'h :, -, -a.,.,a.., i,,o sr',,at.a
e.,,ios =, ,,,.o a,,,,oI q, ,o,n, q,
-. - a., -, ho' Co. ,,ro,l,,.o1
e., ,hts Iino Ant ~ - colorine, a. d,sagrooo,lo
ara iaa.a,,i,. sI,,rraJ Til
Tuo Guides - No lax is sn,ritsd connosi,ion
and s,,nor;,r an ,aohnio,,o % i,s co,nnanior
NJ william NJ Ch.s. ~ M,n,.h oon,r'hu,.s a
| .i,,.io ,.,on, nh 60, Ios,o,. ~, AZ. ne
rnar,s,i, - s,ror,,, an1 as,ac,iyoIv rain,sJ
&c.,. ,orai,,,, ,,o,hoTs NJ 400 "po,,or- Ia, -
In n Knieh, ~ poria we cop commend "a
m ,,nnsnaI,v go,d snoc,,ncn 81 s,onra nain,ing
no,,,roIl,, dos ie,nod ana corofnlIv evecn,oa A
,,a,,,. - Nar,,'a,, aaaan, ,,n,non oro drau,in,,
,ro,a, iron, ,he rivor side The grou,,ino h
natural va, s,r,Linc. ovorv fcure = chara1tar.
is,icnllv r.pdnred md tho SURROUNDINGS in.
clrdine tho dis,an, Ionascanc nro noin,nd Win
NO ioss zinc ,han tho oonrea In Tho foreground
Nm nora ambitions snbiecta in the exhihition
ora ,,or,rovod with FAR loss trn,hfIneas or AZ an
Aro,hor foreign brod artist Mr. Thomas Uovon.
dan exhih,ta a "Iovolist Peasant soldier Of Ia
yona6e - No AGO evidcnt,v studded from m,
lita Tha exocution Ia mastorlv al,houoh W,
ta;l 70 SOC in m a rather mild exnrossop ot m,
n,odel ,hon, NJ Uovendon conied the Tono,i,a
.aal ,rbich ,ho faa,urss 81 the oenuine Hr,,or
Ioval,s, - ,oa ,vonld hova re0oc,eJ
nr, l., y. illhHS, WHO nus Hhuuc HcouHlHtIh