, 1884-02-02
ART BY WHOLESALE.
A Novel Process of Rapid Multipli-
cation of Genuine Oil
Paintings.0

<N
II will now show you something that fow
people have soon" said tho dealer, after a
long inspection of pictures without my pur-
chases. Conducting the reporter up a creaking
stairway, he knocked at a rude pine door about
halfway up the flight. This was opened from
above. and the visitor was ushered into a
long room, allied with an offensive odor OF
paint. Near the window at the front were
half a dozen workmen, in paint-bespattsr~d
clothes. Without any evident design at
effect, they applied the brush with a rapid
movement that completed a picture in ten or
hfteen minutes. Ono artist, more rapid than
the Others, averageda picture In ten minutes,
three being turned out during the half-hour
spent by tho reporter in this factory.
The process of manufacturing Il novel. A
model is made by a person whose business 1t
Is to bring out new designs for zach season
he paints several models OF each picture.
and the starter" il instructed in tho mystar-
les Of putting on tho background. With his
colors already mixed. this 1mechanicr Of the
art, Who only knows in a mechanical wny
how to put on a SKY" or a mountain"
seizes his brush and, in a few hasty touches,
puts a film over the canvas which Is Intended
for the outline of the sky and mountains
This embryonic landscape is taken up by the
artist, who soon fashions tho shapes Of trees,
OSS"b CiOOAs u Ahflh-uOuSol In a Nalley.
or a tumble-down church, with a skill that IL
wonderful. There is no study for artistic Of
feet, nc effort at harmony in colors, the only
object seeming to be to grind out pictures
with the greatest possible speed.
SIS this a profitable businessf' inquired tho
reporter.
"Indeed, 1t Ia 1t was from 100 to 200 psr
cont better this year than last We sold
more than 5000 pictures tho last year, and
will sell many moro during the coming year.
You see those are better pictures than the
old ehromos, and besides they have the merit
OF having been done in oil"
where do you sell themf"
]Everywhere- These cheap pictures enable
all people TO ornament their homes, and then.
you know, apoor picture Is better than mono at
all There Is not a picture-dealer In the
country who does not handle pictures Of this
kind You will find the better class of them
among all theleading dealers Of Chicago, and
they are daily sold TO people who bclisve they
know something Of art. Many OF them are,
in their way, very moritorious. Thsre l. one
yonder that would sell anywhere for x25.
We do not prstend that these arc any more
than rapid sketches, and we feel, therefore,
that people get the worth of their money.
"You would be surprised TO know how
many really fine artists have acquired their
hrSt success In institutions like this. There Is
Henry E. Elkin, whose Mount Shasta took
tho second prize at Vienna, and sold for $50,
900. He worked beside me In New York
Paul Brown is another, and 70 il George K
Colby. Bromley and Groon kept the wolf
from the door in the sane way earlier in life
Good artists make from SOS To $50 a week
while the mechanic makes from sl2 to ais
This work is not don by ~drunkon, broken
down artists. Much of IL Il the work nj
some OF the most promising painters IL
the city. 1t onables them to gain a living
and they are not forced TO ske out an erist
ence while awaiting fame and fortune. They
can keep their bodies we'll fed, and their ore
alive fancies are not dulled by constant p4ng,
OF appetite. So, while they spend a day OF
50 a week in their studios, working on good
efforts. they make Il living here. But thsr,
are many who feel that 1t IL a debasement Of
art to do this kind Of work. They mistake
for while they are starving and running be
hind In thoir rents. their rivals are nvinS
well and are able TO gain that sxpsrieno,
| which comes from travail