, 1880-07-04
FASHION IN ART.
How William III. Vanderbilt Bought a
Picture. fai p1ris.~
p,-fxjun. Tunf r.

RG0NH WILLIAM 4Hs kAnNeFDA2I XzOuGAG n
Picture In PAris.~
Iari*lan, June II.
A now phenomenon was invented lastweek
in Paris. The badauds ran to see, and lowit
is all over. The phenomenon was Mr.. Vii
legas, pupil of Fortuny, who had hitherto
been almost unknown. We had indeed seen
one or two little interior scenes with figures,
which showed some talent and a great knowl-
edge Of the tricks Of lis master. About a
fortnight or three weeks ago AIr. Villeeas
arrived i'll Paris from Rome, bringing with
him large and important picture represent
Ing baptism in the Cathedral of Seville.
The picture is the triply concentrated essence
OF Fortuly's style. Tie cathedral itself is a
curiosity-shop. and the nIultttudes Of
figures in it are dressed III q va-
ricty of ycst1nen1s which could only. be
found Ut all exhaustive and comparative his
tory OF costume. 1t is impossible to imagine
4 picture more rich i'll detail and more calcu-.
lated, with its tricks vi light, Of color' and Ut
lninuteiless, to aStonish the innocent Specta-
tor. The curious point Is that now that
twenty years of reelection have convinced
people Ut the utter falseless OF Fortuny's art,
ll1iration q pupi! of Fortuny who has not us
much talent as his master had. Tie fnct Is,
however, that the Parisiau batlauds did
not troop. to Il, picture-tlcaier's gallery
picture for which tie American millionaire,
Mr.. W. Il. Vanderbilt, has paid l5o, ,oOo francs.
NObouy was more aStonislteu, perhaps, than
VilleKas himself at the vastlless OF this SUN:
Delicate and rickety, the young Spalliartt
came up from Konie with his picture. He
pnt himself III communication with tile lead.
illg picture dealers Of Paris. Villegls wished
to gYt 1UD,00O francs for his picture; that sum
would have made him dance with joy The
1nf
was not sure after all. One day two gentle
men called at the studio and asked If they
could see the picture, and II Villegas- was still
at liberty to dispose Of it. The artist replied
that he was III treaty, but that he had not yet
sold it. "Well," said one Of the gentlemen,
Theshock to Fillegls was terrific; hew half
stunned, but having recovered from his emo
tiUi,, lie stannered out that he would like
time to reflect. NO." said the gentleman,
'you must say yes or no; ! want to know
price otfer.'' Villeg;.s then accepted the
t,aa ti:S lir. ri ". o' Ii. Vanderbit, Vent to lie
cab, brought in pen alld paper. aud wanted
opay and take away the picture at one: once; ;;
it W up. Mr. Vanderbilt gave him so,ooof.
on account, and on the following
Monday he came round with van, paid the
balance of 130, ,00Of., and took. the picture
away. Meanwhile, an enterprisiug dealer
offered Mr.. Vanderbilt the use of his gallery
to store the picture. Mr. Vanderbilt nalveiy
accepted the,otfer; the dealer then sent out
Invitations to the press and to amateurs, and
so they NIL flocked to sce the monster picture
that tile American millionaire had bou glrt for
15V000E The ingenious dealer netted few
fish for himself out Of the crowd, and the coup
was accomplished. The news OF Mr.: Wander
bilts purchase having been spread abronu,
the badauts trooppd up to Vllegas' studio
and any paitry little sketch that was lying
about was bought up for ridiculous sums
The above is the true and unvarnished his
tory of the way in which a1 American mill
ionaire patronizes the fine arts, OF the WHY
tn which (: new artistic phenomenon was Ills
covered III Paris, and Of the way in which AZ
ingenious trades1nan took advantage Of boil
+, these circumstances.