The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-10
THE DAILY STAR
THE ART MUSEUM.
What Has Been Accomplished,
and Things in Contemplation.
Cr'CINNATps NEXT GREAT STEP.


for Cincinnati toward placing this city In
an advanced position in Industrial Art is
the founding of Museum that shall gather
around it the curious. the aesthetic and the
interesting, Joined to the technical training
In the arts as applied to the industrial
trades. such as carry the love and applica'
ton of the beautiful into the every-d day OBJ
jects of life.
The Womens Art Museum Association
of Cincinnati aims to become this. and, is
actually the nucleus around which is be-
ginning to crystalize the forms that pre-
sage the great institution of the future.
An Art Museum like the Louvre Gallery
OF Paris is of course not thought of. al
though in modern art Cincinnati can boast
of as exquisite productions as are to- be had
in the best galleries of Europe, and of these
some of the choicest would in time, we
have the assurances, find their way into q
collection for the free public use of the city
if there was only proper building pro-
vided. The effort of the ladies, now max
ing is rather in imitation of the Kensing-
ton Museum in London, and aims to unite
the practical or utilitarian to the aesthetic
In art training. Paris for centuries has led
Europe and the world in her fabrics. her
objects of virtu, her bijouterie, and the
thousand and one elegancies of life that have
drawn the wealthy and the cultivated to her
matchless bazars and collections and shops
This is or was but the natural sequence
of the early fostering of the arts by that
Government, which drew by liberal en-
couragement and rewards the cunning arti-
ficers of Venice and the East when Venice
and the East were the seats of art, manu-
facture and learning. Cincinnati has much
to boast of in her College of Music, the fore
most on the continent, and her Music Hall,
the finest undoubtedly in the world. She
will have in time her Museum. hut that is
further along; although it has been pub
licly claimed that $4,000 has been prom
Used toward the fund for its erection. This
is premature, although committee of gem
tlemen have in charge the matter, and hope
to secure liberal donation to this object.
Among the subscribers to the guarantee
fund to the last Exposition number have
signified willingness to change the sub.
scription from conditional to positive
one and to authorize it to be applied
towards fund for the erection of the pro-
proportion of this fund can be thus Sc
cured.
The ladies, however, are not idle, but
while others have been vainly wishing and
dreaming of the Museum of the future
have secured the use of rooms in the south
wing of the Art Hail, and there established
classes for technical training in those
branches that the hoped-for Museum will
be especially designed to foster. Mr.. Pres
ton Powers son of the late Hiram Powers,
the sculptor, has, under their auspices, re-
moved his art studio from Florence Italy,
to Cincinnati, and is actively engaged in in
structing class in modelling at the Hall.
He has already sixteen enthusiastic pupils,
who are making most creditable progress IN
modelling. The writer had the pleasure to
be- present Yesterday at the casting OF the
first mold from a completed model by Miss
johnson, under the supervision OF MIR.
Powers Other pupils are advancing, with
excellent prospect OF like success.
We do not understand that it is antici-
pated that the pupils shall produce statues,
but they will have thorough instruction in
the use of the modelers tools and in work
ing clay, so that the ground work shall be
found solid for their pushing on to higher
achievements in the same line hereafter
In water color painting Mrs. Keenan,
whose tender and beautiful sketches were
n.uch admired at the late Exposition, has a
class of fourteen pupils, and some of their
pieces shown i'm the art gallery room of the
south wing were extremely pretty. In
drawing Mrs Twacbtman has also class,
Numbering perhaps dozen or more, who
are progressing with satisfaci cry results.
In Kensington needle work, of which speci-
mems were seen in the Exposition, Mrs.
Anthony has fine lot Of delighted schol-
arS
There is also an effort now making to-
wards securing teacher of pottery decora-
tieu, in which so lively an interest is felt
in this country and especially in this city.
1t is well known that some specimens Of
pottery, decorated byour resident artists, in
This line have attracted wide attention in
other cities We saw several creditable spec
linens at the rooms on our visit there. A
fine vase by Miss Mclaughlin of decorated
faience that if we are not mistaken, was
shown at the Exposition. There was also
some smaller ones by other pupils that ex-
hibited excellent promise. SINE OF the
articles with figures in alto relieve in cameo
designs were modelled with freedom that
certainly indicates q genuine aesthetic feel
ing that in finer clays and riper experience
will yield admirable results. There were
several specimens of underglaze decorations
after the methods Of the exquisite vases by
Bennett, with which Exposition visitors
are familiar. that, though somewhat crude,
were in the highest degree promising.
The experiments in this line are extreme
~ interesting, and a teacher with the
proper qualifications IL one shall be- Sc
cured, must create genuine enthusiasm i'll
the whole country, as the craze for pottery
decoration seems to have seized the entire
american people. One beautiful little vase
after the manner of the Limoges ware was
shown, and nunaberless ether objects that
would make this article too long II here re-
capitulated, And, by the way, we would
suggest that persons who are interested in
a school Of this sort or in the creation Of
an institution such as this is designed to be
tls germ, will find a passabls collection ef
pictures and many interesting objects
shown that it is pleasant to examine.
Among these is lot of pottery made BY
the natives of Fayal in fine antique designs
some Of them Of the most exquisitely class
ic form.
1t is curious how little is new in the
shapes OF ancient pottery. Every nation
under the sun seems to have borrowed
from the models OF the twilight ages, and
vat today the Eorms that seem tn satisfy