Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-03-14
Making Oil-Paintings.


mounted and stretched, are sold in New
York at profit for fifty dollars hun
dred. Eight artists have been known tc
produce 125 of these painting in a day.
Large handsome fiat Dutch gilt frames fol
the paintings sell for 81. These are
wholesale rates. The pictures retail from
! 81 apiece up, and one of them has been
sold as high as $3.50. They are sold chief
| ly by peddlers, who carry stocks of them
/ through all the mining towns OF the West.
hanv show an amount of labor and skill
In execution which 1t would seem impOs-
sible to command for ten times the price
that is asked. They are all landscapes, as
nothing else sells so well. The paintings
come IN many sizes, but the price does
not vary much. They generally represent
a rlver, mountains In the distance, bit
of country with fences and trees end here
and there farmhouse. The tInts are well
blended, and at distance produce pleas
ing effect. This is especially true of the
picture intended for the Eastern trade.
Thirteen years ago, when TIE industry was
begun, loud, flsring coloIs and broad ef-
fecls were in demand, but now such paint.
ings are only wanted in the West. There
they want the gayest of colors, and, above
all, they must have castle. Castles of
the most remarkable design are thrown in
anywhere. They are created on the slice
OF steep mountain or an island in the
wild woods. They must have plenty of
turrets and battiemenis. One of the laIg-
est of these oll-painting manufactures is
in Greenwich street, where there are rooms
flied with racks containing hundreds Of
finished paintings. On an upper floor a
reporter saw eight persons, SIX OF whom
were young women. They were hard at
work and painting very rapidly. The pro-
prietor is an artist who studied four years
under Gerome, In Paris. Finding very
little money in high art, he invented a
process for the rapid production of cheap
paintings. The paintings are made on
heavy muslin which is first wet and
stretched tightly on long frames. 1t is
then cut INTO the required size, ard
stretched by machine on a square pine
frame, where It is made fast. Next the
muslin Is tinted light blue, and after this
has dried 1t Is ready for the painter. A
coating OF oil is first put on it and then
a stencil plate is laid on the muslin. This
stencil is of thick paper, with all sorts of
odd shapes cut 10 1t. A boy stands on
one side OF the table and a gIrl on the
other, near them are several small pots of
paint. They daub the paint into the holes
IN the stencil plate with great rapidity.
When the s,lncl! is removed the muslin is
seen TO be spotted here and there with
paint. Another stencil Is then used,
whose holes correspond to other parts OF
the muslin, and more stencils follow, and
when the work is done the muslin is COM
pletely covered with a patchwork of va
ried cclcrs 1t is then hadded to young
woman, who blends the back kground. She
uses several brushes in running the colors
into each otner, and finally goes over all
with large camel's hair brush. The re-
suit is surprising. The patchwork be-
comes harmonious combination of blend
ed Iints. The muslin then gees to man
who blends the foreground In the same
manner. Next it is dried and passes to
tine tinisLer, who works from model hung
on her easel. She outlines the trees, fen
ces, shrubs and other accidents of scenery
with extraordinary rapIdity. The colors
simply to lay them Oh. A fourth and
mere skilful artist gives the finishing
touches OF light and shade. 1t finally
goes to the artist, who may be called the
architect. He puts in the palaces, castles,
houses, and boats. Tie rapidity and skill
with which all work Is due TO long years
of practice. The paint used is common
house painters paint. In the paint room
are racks containing small pots of paint OF
5000 different tnts. MIR. Levin says he
Is obliged to sell very cheaply in order 10
compete with artists who paint at their
homes. lie has 100 different styles of
pictures, but some sell much better than
others. He has tried fgure-pleces, but
they did not take well. The paint stands
the test of time very well, and is Atened
and improved by age. When handsomely
framed these paintings, MIR. Levin says,
are sometimes hung in private galleries
among expensive paintings.