Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-03-24
ART NOTES.

| - Among the American artists abroad who
are getting pictures ready for the Paris Salon
this year, and whose work will probably attract
attention there, are Bacon. Bridgman. Doneho
Heaton, Knight, May, Mosier and Sargent.
At a picture sale in Philadelphia the other
evening Gustave Dore's original drawings of the
famous and popular engravings, Peace" and
war" were withdrawn for want of q bid
though 1t was understood that an offer of 90 00C
would have secured the pair.
- The illustrations OF Major Poore's article
on the National Capitol In The Century for April
are disappointing. Especially is this true of the
drawings illustrating some Of the beautiful
minor details and interior views of the building.
which are too ragged and sketchy to do full JUS
tice to their several subjects; but the remark
Will apply to nearly all the twenty odd engrav.
fngs given in the article referred to.
- Mr.. Ulke shows at Barlow's the beautiful
full-length portrait Of his little girl, which at
tracted 30 much attention at the meeting of the
Literary Society at Justice Matthews last Sat-
urday evening. Mr.. Ulke has, by the way, re-
! Gently fitted up spacious and well lighted
studio in connection with his pleasant residence,
Al Fifteenth street, where he will be pleased to
| see all who are interested In his work.
- Mr.. William Carl Browne has now upon his
easel and well forward toward completion por-
trait Of Henry Clay, which he is painting from q
| daguerreotype taken in 1874 and his own recol-
| lection Of the distinguished statesman. Those
who have seen Mr.. Brownies portrait and knew
Us Industrious subject regard this effort as pecu-
| larly successful In giving the remarkable ex-
preston OF Mr. Clay's face and features, APPOINT
| upon which most of his likenesses are lament
| ably deficient.
"A correspondent using the signature of
81
| thing said on the subject in this column last
Saturday. asks The STAR to name single pic
ture painted by the late Sanford R. Clifford
which Is equal to any one painted by the late J..
| M. w. Turner. Mindful of the adage that "com-
| PARSONS are odorous," and conscious also that
| 1t may be regarded as heretical. the writer of
| the paragraph In question yet does not hesitate
| to hazard tho opinion that. as a genuine and
permanently pleasing work of art, either Mr..
Mountain, Tivoli," or one of his large scenes
| In the vicinity of Venice, on Lake Como or on
the Nile. Is worth as many OF Turner's Slave
Ship, )" for example, as could be set up edgewise
| IN four-acre lot. 1t is not pretended that Mr.:
| Clifford ever deserved the same measure of fame
| so Justly earned by Turner. or that he could
have matched some of that artists best efforts
but at the same time Mr.. Chords fine love of
nature and his highly sensitive artistic organ
| fzatiOn would have saved him from perpe-
I
| "Save Ship" OF this painting it is related
| that the New York gentleman who bought It
| from Ruskin for &20.0 600 in gold, without ever
having SCENT himself, and solely on the strength
OF that gentlemans high praise, had it upside
| down on its easel In his gallery for some time
| before Its true position was discovered and
! pointed out by friend. Of course this was q
humorous exaggeration, but the story is really
not 80 unreasonable as those who never saw the
picture might suppose.
Just what is the highest sum ever paid for
| single painting by an American artist is lit
tie difficult to tell. 1t is said that A. T. Stewart
paid $25. 900 for the Republican Court" repre-
.senting reception by President Washington.
by Huntington, and like sum is said to be the
| amount he paid for ''After the Bath" by NJ K
Kellogg, but the statement has never been well
authenticated as to either picture. There have
| also been many stories told of the fabulous
prices realized by Mr.. Bierstadt for some of his
| immense canvases but these stories also lack
confirmation. Many Of this artists sales were
made under peculiar circumstances. and not al
ways for cash, so it was not easy to ascertain or
Judge the exact amount he received in any nota-
BILE instance. based on actual money value It
Is believed that the highest price ever paid for
the work Of an American artist in open market
or more strictly speaking, at auction, was given
by the Corcoran Gallery for the justly celebrated
painting of Niagara" by Church. which now
hangs in the main hall of that institution. This
cost S12, 500, and that sum is likely as large
figure as any painting by an American artist has
ever brought In hard money actually paid down.
Certain it Is, that it would be exceedingly diff
cult to name another which would bring as
much at auction to-day 1t may be said how
ever, that it would require much larger sum
to tempt the present pOssessOr of the Niagara"
to part with 1t.
Beyond question the costliest painting In
the United States is the MISSIONER, entitled
'1SO7," belonging to Mrs. A. T. Stewart The
price paid for it was $50, 900. which is, in turn,
understood to be the largest sum ever received
by its distinguished painter for single work.
The picture is likewise much the largest NJ Meis-
sonier has painted, although it by no means
ranks among large or even ordinary canvases as
covered by most other artists. Nor does it show
its painter at his best. 1t seems in fact to illus
trate the limitation of his powers rather than to
display them. 1t contains great number of
figures, and portrays intense action, whereas
Meissoniers strength lies in single figures, or
small groups, in repose, and in careful manipu-
latiOn and brilliant colors. After this expensive
example, oil paintings by foreign artists which
lost from $4,000 down to $4,000 are by no
means unusual in private collections in the
larger cities, although Of course they are not
plenty. water color by Villegas. owned by
Mr.. w. II. Vanderbilt, is the most costly picture
of its class in this country. For water color it
is unusually large in size. measuring 66x35
iHChcs Its suUJecC is hOyal christening, In q
Spanish cathedral. 1t includes numerous fig
ures, and is characterised throughout by the
brilliant col0ring and striking effects for which
villegas is justly noted. This was bought from
the artist, IN Paris, at figure variously stated
between $4,000 and $4,000, though the first
named sum is probably nearest the true amount.
Although q picture by Millet brought the
highest figure Of any sold at the recent sale of
the Runkle collection, in New York, yet the
price it sold r,-S3, S5O, lis comparatively low
as MiIlet's go now adays.. A singular craze for
his works has existed for some time past in this
country and in France. and it is hardly safe to
say what one of his better examples will not
fetch when sold at auction under well man.
aged conditions. It is safe to predict, however,
that 1t will be out of all proportion to its in
trinsic merits as work OF art, or to the amount
of pleasure 1t will actually yield to its possessor
as compared with that afforded by many other
works costing far less money. But a certain set
must have Millet, or several of them, no mat
ter how high they come; and it is by no means
unlikely that the higher they come the more
they will be wanted. It Is the thing to have
them, and the fewer the people who are able to
get them the more valuable they appear in
some eyes, Miet's pictures are generally