, 1880-04-25
ART In NEW YORK.
Some Reflections on the Prevail
ing Fashionable Craze.
The Annual Opening of the Ma
tional Academy Of Design.
Some Striking Works of Merit by the
Younger American Artists.

\ ooAoo otl1A1uB W 0rkS OF Mer1I ny III
Younger American Artists.
, What Beckwith, volk, shir1aw, an
Other Chicagoans Have Done.
Special Correspondence Of The Chicago Tribune.
NEW YORK, April 18Th all the Paris Ex
position Of 1878 there was no such surpris
10 the American long resident abroad as til
exhibit OF Tiffany & Co. Unfamiliar wit
the progress of affairs at home, he had OK
pected TO hnd, in the section devoted to tn
United States, those things in which lie knew
We were preeminent; he had expected to SCI
acres OF agricultural implements, miracle!
OF machinery, piles Of pills, the light AMI
graceful buggy of the period, gigantic case:
OF raise teeth, cubic yards Of neshless jaws
grlnning ghastly at the show,-all as he Iat
seen at the Vienna Exposition five years be
lore. lie saw all this, but lie saw, too, an eX
hlble OF sllVerware and jewelry, and all tht
curious products of the goldsmith's craft
which IN grace and originality Of conception
ana IN beauty and finish Of workmanship
surpassed oil done by gorgeous England and
Dy artistic France. It was a revelation to
these countrles,-a surprise and q delight tc
hlln,-to find ouT new world making such
extraordinary progress in, any one branch
OF the hne arts,-a progress visible III many
ways ana IN all branches to those who have
watched it during the past ten years. That
| couture" Which was once the peculiar pos
session OF the Bralmins of Boston has
spread to other castles throughout the land,
| and IS especially sought for in the direction
| of "art" and s'art-culture.''
ART HAS BECOME FASHIONABLE
here In New York; it is the "correct card"
and all sorts OF art-sllrines are set up, and
some very queer art idols are worshiped
thereln,-bllndly and in bewilderment, it
may We'll be. in most cases. These devotee3
might bo Imagined to say, by malicious
mind, IN the words Of the Indian worshiper
to his stone idol: 1--WE see that thou art big
and ugly, but we believe thee to be good and
| nlgfltyP' The young New Yorker, says
Mr. Salisbury in his pretty little play, 1.-THE
Brook" doesn't understand anything he ad-
mircs, just us the Bostonian. won't admire
anything he can understand, while the young
Ph1ladelpian neither admires nor under
stands anythfngl Can this be true in art
matters OF our understanding friends in all
these cities? Let us hope not. Indeed, do
not hesitate to say, Perish such thought
And OF the swarms of young ladies' all
over the country who aim at being "artistic,"
-rumor has it that Chicago is full of thenl,-
how many Of them really understand it, or
care for it, except as n fashionable craze?
Does this amateur parlor art really come to
anything beyond the paltry and Ineffective
results obtained by plastering utterly inap-
plicable ornamentatlon on ludicrous and i'll
appropriate objects? How many of our fair
young countrywomen, bent on decorating"
horseshoes and dinner-plates, sllaying-mugs
and cialn-shells, ever raise their eyes to note
the beauty all about them,-the myriad beau-
ties OF our superb American skies, Of the
landscape spread Mt their very teet, of the
lake or river rolling before them? COM
mend to you, American maidens, these words |
OF the wisest teacher Of our day In these |
matters, ,-wisest. spite of all his willfulness |
and his waywardness. They are from John |
Ruskin's ..'Seyen Lamps Of Architecture";
and they deserve to be written in letters of |
hold throughout the land, and so be ever
present before the eyes of American women:
,1 -" Wherever you can rest, there decorate.
where rest IS forbidden, SO is beauty. You
must not mix ornament, with business any
more than you may mix play. Work first
and then rest; work first and then gaze; but
DO not use golden plowshares, nor bind ledg-
erS e;;a in enamel; do not thrash with sculptured
Tails, nor put bas-reliefs on mil-stones."
farther than this, and when maddened be-
y.ond endurance by the fashionable jargon Of
the day, the inane yapidities of artrslang,
the senseless aping Of foreign follies, to say
with that simple and sensible Western editor,
the English novelist: ut is with still more
sincere regret that the friends Of a manly.
vigorous, seit.s1lpportlng, and self-dependent
people, lifted for the exercise of political lib
called blacksnithine, corll-growirg, carpen-
scring, millinery, breadmaking, ETC., are not
included in the course of study for the Chi
ago public schools. Society is vastly
more n. e., t9t concerned In the induction of
II culture than it is in teaching them
o bawl larmoniously, and to beat the hew-
;ag melodlously,"-and toI" decorate clam
hells and fiatirons, he should have added.
american city, is crowded with young per
ons OF both sexes that (sic) have been cult
'red' by false aud vicious system in .
nusic, drawing, aud other fanciful and fash
sic) are actually Incapable, by reason Of
lylng."
But enough Of the irate editor, and enough {
.ls useless Indignation oyer the folly and
Nation, we are but beginning our artistic
mining, and we must needs as Incidental to
nat training, slop over into gusi, a1fectation, j
I'D nonsense Of all sorts. when we shall ! j
ave arrived at perfection, at such a point, | c
~, as tho summit Of Greek culture, whose a
piendor caused Michelet to name Their y
lopyl:e the Black Friday Of Civilization i
len we may afford to be severe. In the
leantlme, let us take the gifts sent by the a
obs with due gratitude; let us not con- s
uer too curioMsly through whose hands E
icy come: Whether or no Sir Gorgius y
[edas. of South Kenslngton, the newest FAIL t
>ad-king Of New York, the latest grain Ii
rnSIls OF Chicago, the bonanza princes of b
M Francisco, really know anything about II
ctures IS not worth worrying over. We a
ay quietly laugh at their ideas on these | a
,bjects, but all the same the fact remains CT
lat they spend their money for pictures, and O
at IS the main thing. What though they u
I've been content hitherto with the me- II
lanlc perfection Of GGrone and the lnathe- 81
atically correct FrencIl.nen, with the COM CT
AGENT inanities Of Toul1nouele and Baug- st
Ct, WITH the snug smoothness of Munich al
"a OF brussels? They are slowly learning a.
hey even consent to buy the matehless / az
asses ot Monticelli's colorlng now, 1irst be- pl
& privately assured that they are not doing Sc
absurd, and will not be driven to q.
Ing him in their betl-roonlsl And, what is fo
tier, they have discovered that good pict- p(
es can pc painted i'll this country, and have ! co