New-York tribune., 1882-03-13

their turn We have always maintained that 10 edl IT,
eced contributions this way ia TO intensity the injury
implied In the rejection nay, it IS often TO make an H.
jury Of what otherwise need have been an III
/ jury at all. II an artists work is not thought
good enough he hung where IL be seen, the artist
# he De Of SENSE would prefer that 1t should be
frankly rejected and home TO him. He can only he
hurt by hnt NJ il skyed out OF all recognition or put
into dark corner Fancy then the feelings " the I'M
happy persons wh0 angry at being rejected by the
Water color Society, aud flying for justice TO commit
tee Of their own find themselves thrust into what on
the very opening Of the exhibition Is clri-cned by
sort of popular inspiration the Chamber Of HoTrror
place where the only aeviation Of their misery is that
| there is no light 10y which their works can be seen.
The Water Color Society has just closed the most
| prosperous exhibition it has ever held. In cur
| opinion, there were fewer bad. far fewer indifer
ent drawings the walls than there before
so far from becoming wearisOme after few visits.
ourselves found something every fresh visit to
reward our coming OfcouIse there mistakes made
but IN our deliberate judgment they were few and OF
comparatively little importance. We doubt If the po-
son Of the Water Color Society relative the Academy
Is well understood by those who complain Of the action
it, committees II is simply the lessee OF the Academy
just any body OF outside exhibitors might be who
hOuld apply 10 the Academy for space in which to Dis
play their wares They pay a heavy rent
for the use OF these rooms, and they
| have no privileges whatever that other iessees
do not enjoy The Academy is not rich institution and
it is Obliged to make all it out OF the rent OF Its
rooms; Color Society in its turn is only just
beginning TO be prosperous, end its only chance
of continuing prosperity to make its exhibitions
as attractive as possible to the public One OF the com
pants this year has been from those whose drawings
were rejected that there would have enough
If the Society had only taken the occupied by the
Etching Club. But II il only this year the Society has
felt able to the expense Of the South Room and
was only decided take il when it found that
of tia
Room and the Northwest ont Of the power Of
the Society The result fortunately justified the add
tonal expense aud the exhibition owed much TO the IN
creased power OF displaying the drawings afforded by
the large spaces and excellent light OF the handsome
South Room But we are that IL the rejected pic
lures ha all been accepted-hat is suppOsng the pres
ent exhibition fairly represent the Of the re-
iectrd thousand-the exhibition OF the Water Color so
cety would have gained nothing and. instead Of being
pleasant recreation, would only have been tresome
peDance.
There are. it must unwIinsy con fessed two dis
tinct ways Of looging at exhibition of pictures.
There is the mercantile. shOpkeepiug way, which Is un-
fortunately becoming every year more prominent; and
there is the artovng side which fortunately Is becoming
every wear more prominent also. The public, which.
however SLOWLY still surely educating its eye and its
taste is insisting more and more every year
upon seeing good ctures for it, money And the Water
Color Society ben largely composed Of young intelligent
ana wide wake men, every year 10 meet this rea
soupbl. 1nand Nor there De any doubt that The
artists a. a body the Society b. sending in
he best work they do and By taking generous view
OF cement. on the other hand there per
sons calling thcns-ly artists who take without Hush
ing the opposite view. and say in 50 many
words 1--WE don't care 10 make attractive
exhibition; want our pictures hung This
we call the shopkceping view; It Is not peculiar
10 those rtiss II il a that i found in every proes-
.iOn. How many and women there are who wOuli
IN AM d a 1T a
d., We are rejected because you want 10 make col
unns interesting and valuable to the pubhc We don't
care the the value Of your columns nor
whether the public buy your newspaper or magazine or
not W. want or articles printed"
We lake Quixotic view Of the situation. We are
well aware that all the artists who send their pictures 10
the exhibition send them with the hope that they Will
he sold The societies, know, exisl primarily to make
money But there is generous way OF looking at to
lnts'ion, and intelligent way, and there Is also way
that is neither generous intelligent No artist who
loved his art and respected himself could
say or feel that the only duty OF
Hanging Committee TO hang what
ever is sent in without regard merit. Perhaps
one who smarting under sense OF supposed in
Jury would say this Everybody, artist or ayman would
probably say thar pictures must he rejected. Then
who decide which shall be rejected and which
ceytedl
The catalogue Of the refused has its certain
castic signs arranged in vertical line. At the top is
T. below il is H. and at the bottom b. These are the
marks which the Board Of Control placed upon the backs
Of the drawings they came before them They signify
No. No. 2 and Bounce" Bounce is aboriginal
word softcned derivltve from the Choctaw, aud
means simply dismiss reject get rid Of but it Implies
rrever-ile swness the decision AID an equal swift
ness execution students Of ChOctaG say that the
same gutturas that express "bOunce" also express
b5ot-toe aud that there rootsmilarty In the IDEAS
Thus Mr. Conklinc bounced By the stat. OF ew
York and the Atlantic ocean was bounced by Oscar
Wilde But we waste time in explaining word that all
cultivated persons familiar with. The refused" "
water-colorsts now call themselves The bounced aud
they call the Hanging Committee the " bouncers."
Sow the Hanging Committee make secret Of the
way in which thcg exercised their function The draw
IN - came up 10 them marked we have described
The number themselves were far more than the
walls h4d room for and therefore those marked II"
and"B" were without examination sent down stairs
Then out Of those marked l." were selected the draw
irrs which made mp the exhibition whcn has just closed
The Hanging Committee that they took the
TWO lower marks q tacit instruction from the
Board Control do inst what they did reject them in
a lump But. whether this the not. it
only reasonable that there being more Of number one
than could be hung on the walls pace the disposal Of
the Hanging Committee, they should hang many OF
these "a they could and leave the rest unexamned.
All tnat the public s concerned with s the result OF
these transactions What have lost by the rejection
Of these three hundred and odd drawings-that the
question. We dd lose, now and then, somethiIR We
lost Charles II. MoOre's excellent portrait OF
gate in Venice beautiful piece Of color and with
grace Of line might have been looked for com
inonplace subject, 1t nearer being a
picture than any OF the drawings accepted
by the Society. and II is much more salts
factory than the " SimpCn" these valls-a very la
boriols work, douht. bnt without air onf without
We 60 not ndt r-taud the rejection Of tbe water
gate" but reason for conn aiut ~ the rejection
Of the sinplJn," seeing that two other drawings OF thc
smr general quality accepted John Henry Ilnl5
Rauid- the L.ulHy, Wales deserved place in
the other exhibition Only for the spirited way IN when
this water Is given There was waterpantng IN the
regular exhibition equal 20 IT, not excepting that OF
has