Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-01-17
..counserreiss in Art"

Every good thing Is countcrfeited.
Drugs are adulterated. Food Is adul-
terated; ana every tea Ia rendered in.
ferior and nearly worthless by foreign
mixtures. When any article has OBJ
tanned good reputation by reason of
il, purity and excellence, limitations are
Immediately made. The counterfeiter
reasons that nine-tenths Of the people
do not know n genuine article from an
imitation. A recent lecturer on art In
Paris called attention to the fact that
many painters in that city were prosti-
tuting their talents by initiating masters
who were dead. Being dead thoy could
no longer protest against the outrage.
These imitntors make large incomes, be-
cause they are encouraged by art dealers,
who know that dead men tell no tales.
The reputation Of q master sells his pic
ture. There Ia always the convenient
story that the picture has been dis
covered in some out Of the way place,
whrec II has been concealed for many
years. Revolutionary disturbances may
have been the cause Of concealment. A
synopsis Of the lecture appears In the
Paris correspondence to the Now York
Evening Post.
One would think that only intelligent
lovers OF art would wish to buy Corots,
but the fact is that every parpenn has an
imitation thrust in his face. ''IIere is q
Corot that has been hidden in q corner
for twenty years." says the merchant;
'you cannot find such another bargain
in all France; the picture Is cheap as dirt
at fifteen thousand francs The word
bargain" is enough for the parvenn.
Often, too, he does not care whether the
picture is or Is not authentic; he bought
It for a real Corot, and in his gallery in
the country, or in q gorgeous city home,
he feels that 1t will produce q fine effect
on tho majority Of his visitors, who are
as ignorant as himself. Now these
Corots, Roybets, Daubiguys, Diazes.
Fromentins, Courbets and Teniers, which
are produced in large numbers, are sold
to the dealers at prices ranging from
three hundred to one thousand francs,
and the gulIs take them from deal
ers at from ten to thirty thousand
rays better even than the adult.
Grafton of wine. often look back with
amusement to the time when I saw in
the windows Of curious merchant on
the exterior boulevards Dinz which
had such a perfectly honest air that
felt persuaded to buy it. The price was
modest; l askcd the merchant some
leading questions, and his answers SEEM
ed eminently satisfactory. Still. it was
so phenomenal circumstance that this
Diaz should have been overlooked by
the picture-buyers, who daily sweep and
garnlsh every corner of Paris, that !
went away doubling. Next day ] asked
friend in tho Maison Goupil to look at
this so-called Diaz for me. In short
time received the information that it
was the work of an inferior imitator, who
had probably received as little as TWEEN.
ty-tive francs for his crime.
The lecturer affirmed that four-fifths
Of the paintings offered for sale in Paris
are counterfeits. And yet that city has
become the great art center of tho
world. 1t is more important to-day, In
some respects, than Rome, Munich and
otner continental cities. In Brussels,
and even in Switzerland, the work Of
counterfeiting goes on because there is q
demand for spurious pictures. In Paris
and some other large European cities.
the expert In pictures Is profession of
great Importance. Probably, Lafarge,
of Paris, makes much money by giving
his opinion of the genuineness and value
Of pictures rs the most renowned artist.
The expert knows, of course, every
genuine picture of the masters, dead and
living, as well as he knows the alphabet.
II is the verdant picture buyer who
prefers to invest without consulting an
expert.